Existing
by Ziggy Pasta
Summary: Unable to escape the nightmares of his past, Cloud finds himself searching for answers to a mysterious envelope that appears in the bar which simply had the word "Live." written inside. A word that surfaces from his memory of the SOLDIER from long ago.
1. Chapter One: Feral Wolf

Existing

By: Ziggy Pasta

SPOILER ALERT: The very beginning of this story contains SPOILERS for the ending of Crisis Core. Then again, if you've beaten Final Fantasy VII, then you know how the ending of Crisis Core turns out, so I guess there really isn't much of a SPOILER.

Author's Note: I went with the Japanese translations of the ending scene from Crisis Core because I thought it was more poetic and well written than the English version. So if it sounds different...then too bad. Hah! There is foul language and alcohol use so only big kids can read.  
A/N Update 8-11-09: Yeah, it's offical. This is gonna be a CloudXTifa (Cloti as I hear some people call it, but that sounds so strange...) because let's face it people, that relationship is there no matter how much some of you CloudXTifa haters will it to go away! Hah! It's not going to be very heavy on it though, so don't worry. They won't go all fluffy OOC or anything. But Cloti haters, don't let that discourage you from reading on. This story is waaaaaay more than just that, I promise! Please, enjoy!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Chapter One: Feral Wolf

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The blue was finally fading into his eyes, finally clearing from every sense in his body. With every drop of the crying rain that tapped against him, he began to regain movement, as if he were soaking in the emotions of each raindrop that touched him. A gentle reminder of the air around him, the sky above, and the earth below. Each sight his eyes wandered to, the names of them began playing across his mind slowly. The words re-formulating in his muddled memory, trying to create his world again.

_Rock...dirt...sword..._

Although his vision was still soaked with Mako, he could see the color before him stand out amongst the blue scenery. The word began to drift back into his brain.

_Blood..._

More than he had ever seen in his entire life. It was mixing with the rain as he watched it trickle over the rocks below him, glittering in the meek sun that peered out from between the gray clouds above.

_Clouds..._

_...Cloud._

His fleeting eyes followed the trail of blood. He jumped slightly then, as the distant sounds of the city nearby finally crawled into his senses. He could hear the bustling life coming from it. The sound of car horns and traffic, the sounds of the inhabitants living out their lives in this saddened rain...

_Panting..._

His mind began to weakly process the noise that he picked out from everything around him. His heart began to beat heavy in his chest. He could hear that too, and it made him realize that he was alive.

Scooting his arms underneath his frame, he managed to lift himself just enough to begin shuffling over to the noise that jump-started his heart into existing again. He could feel the rocks underneath his elbows scrape against his skin. Pain began to form in his knees as they too scraped along the surface as he crawled, and it was an all too familiar feeling that denounced his former catatonic state he had been suffering through.

Everything around him felt brand new, as if he were reborn into a world he knew nothing about. Several moments of processing his surroundings was exhausting, and seemed to last for a lifetime. Frustration and obstruction began to swarm into his body as he struggled to regain the broken mind of his past. Everything around him was alien. But the form that lay before him was instantly recognizable. Instinct began to take over him, and he knew who this person was. He knew everything about him, and yet nothing of himself. It was an overwhelming sense of familiarity that seemed safe, and secure. It was the instinct that an infant would have when viewing a parent for the first time.

"Zack..." His voice flowed from his throat and he was startled at the noise. It was his first word he had spoken in four years. It seemed foreign to him, confused him, and yet made sense in every way to him.

The man was breathing shallow, as each breath released more blood onto the rocks below from the wounds his body carried. His eyes flickered up on the blonde boy who finally managed to lift himself to a kneeling position. He smiled at him, realizing that he succeeded, as he watched the once inanimate face of his friend become full of life again.

"My part until now..."

The blonde's eyebrows arched slightly, his eyes darting back and forth onto his. He could tell the boy was processing what he was saying with great concentration, and he could only imagine what his world was like at this point. His face looked distraught, as if he did not want to miss a word he was about to say.

"Your part...?"

The rain fell down still, cooling the fibers in his passing body as if relaxing him, urging him to close his eyes and follow. But he couldn't. He couldn't leave this world like this. He had to know that the boy he risked his life for would continue on with strength.

He swallowed hard. "That's right, you are..."

The blonde repeated him, and the man wasn't sure at this point if he could really understand what he was saying, or if he was learning how to live again. "...You are?"

He had looked so innocent and tender. So bewildered and staggered all at the same time. He was every emotion that a human could possibly be all at once. He was a blank canvas of purity and corruption. And he wanted to be near the last human he would ever touch. To ever hold, ever smile, and to ever love.

He reached up and slid his arm to the back of the boy's head. His fingers intertwining with his soft blonde hair. He gripped him firmly, reminding himself that after all that had happened, he was able to keep his promise to this boy. He protected him, and was giving him life again.

The boy suddenly found himself against the trembling chest of a dying man. The warm feeling of his blood pressed against his face, and the smell of gunpowder mixing with the rain against his skin conjured up memories of blurred nothingness that flashed in his head. He could not wrap his brain around the images in his mind at that moment, however, as the man began to speak softly.

"Live."

The boy's head began to rise and fall with each labored breath of the man's, as he continued to press him against his chest, holding him there with the depleting strength of his final moments.

"You're...the evidence that I lived." The man's hand slipped off the boy's head and landed against the earth, as if it were trying to drag him down and absorb him.

The sound of the rain came back to the boy's ears as he slowly lifted his head. His eyes scanned up the man's chest, viewing each and every bullet wound he wore, as blood continued to seep through. The boy blinked gently, as a warm substance rolled down across his right eye. His hair dripping with cool rain and warm blood. It caused the boy to shiver briefly.

His arm outstretched to the side, the man began to grasp the handle of his Buster sword, the all too familiar words of his friend Angeal repeating in his head. "My pride and dreams..." he spoke, raising his weapon slowly between them. He offered the sword to the boy, and with a firm voice he offered his life.

"Have them all."

The blonde stared down at the heavy sword, the cold feeling of the hilt burning into his hands. He hesitated.

The man raised his hand up and shoved the sword close to the boy's body, forcing him to grip it tight in fear of dropping it, and as the boy looked up at the man, his lips parted slightly, his eyes wavering against the other's. He moved his mouth slowly, formulating the words his friend spoke in his mind. He carefully repeated him.

"...I'm the evidence that you lived..."

And with those final words, the man smiled wide, comfortable knowing that his friend was going to be living his life for the both of them, and he closed his eyes for the last time.

Cloud gasped, the breath in his lungs being choked out through his tightening throat. His eyes widened, the realization of Zack's death finally flowing over him.

He screamed.

~*~*~

He was screaming still.

Quickly sitting up, Cloud let the final remnants of his scream taper off into the quiet church in which he slept. He was panting hard, and wiped what he thought was sweat off of his damp face. He realized then that it was raining.

He looked up at the gray sky through the large hole in the ceiling of the church and stared at it in confusion as the last of his dream finally followed his scream through the air. His mind reeling with thoughts of his past began to jumble inside of him as he stood.

_Dreaming of the past. I was pathetic._ He thought to himself, stepping gingerly off of the flowers he once lay upon.

Not that he meant to, but somehow between the time he fell asleep on the hard wood floor nearby, to this moment, he managed to make the term "bed of flowers" quite literal, and Aerith would have been standing there, scolding him if only she knew.

He ran a hand through his damp hair, shaking off the last of the raindrops that clung to the blonde strands that draped across his eyes. His hand paused at the right side of his face and he swallowed hard, the feeling of the warm blood from years ago still lingering against his skin.

An intake of cool air into his lungs, he quickly let it out in a heavy sigh as he gathered a few of his belongings and headed to the doors of the church. The sound of his boots echoed in the open space, with the occasional crunch of debris below his feet. He paused at the towering doors, his hand reaching up to the long wooden handles. Once elegant and divine in its design, they now stood weathered and worn from time and neglect.

"Have them all, huh?" He glanced back to the middle of the church as the sun peeked out from behind the clouds and released a warm ray of light upon the flowers. "I don't even have any of my own." Cloud threw open the large door and stepped out into the remains of Midgar.

~*~*~

Tifa had tossed the last of the dish towels into a small hamper underneath the bar counter with a heavy sigh. The sound of the rain and the dripping of the faucet nearby were the only audible sounds in the bar. It was an eerie silence that gave her the feeling that something was wrong. She hated that feeling as she knew it was only for one person alone. Cloud. She tried to dumb down the growing anxiety in her stomach and gathered her thoughts to reassure herself.

She hadn't seen him in several days without any contact, but then again that wasn't much out of the ordinary. Before the outbreak of Geostigma, he lived with her and Marlene in the bar they built in Edge. They were like any family one would find on Gaia. Happy, content, sad and regretful all in one. She could tell that most of the time he was pleased with their life together, as they ran the bar and delivery service with passion and gusto. But there was always that side of him that was in pain. Guilt and remorse over Aerith and Zack's death filled his soul and consumed him. He would smile to Tifa at times, but soon she realized it was her that was making him smile in her mind. His spirit was dying slowly.

And then he found Denzel at the church. The poor boy was alone and full of malady over the death of his parents during the Sector 7 crash, and the beginnings of Geostigma. After accepting the boy into their little family, Cloud began to change for the better. Spending more time at home with everyone, trying to make a living. He even began to smile.

But one day, he just...disappeared. Tifa was somehow not that surprised, but it still tore her heart in half. She often stayed up late at night, staring at the moon, wondering various reasons in her mind as to why he would just leave. She knew he loved the children, but he was still uncomfortable around them, like a parent with a newborn. Afraid that if he touched them, they'd break like he himself would. Was it her? She did everything possible to make him happy, in the simple way he would understand, and she felt that she failed.

Since late spring when he left at age thirteen to try and become SOLDIER, he was thrown into a world of nothing but fighting, lies and hatred. He lost a huge portion of his life growing up to Shin-Ra and SOLDIER. Being confined in the Shin-Ra mansion for four years, having who-knows-what done to him and being on the run from Shin-Ra for an entire year poisoned with Mako, not knowing who he was. It was enough to make the strongest person crack. And she knew that all he knew how to do in life was fight, and suffer through the pain of losing people that he loved.

So it was no surprise to her after the incidents with Kadaj and his gang, that Cloud was back to his old dejected self. The normality that settled into his life after the children were cured of Geostigma was too foreign to him. It was too...habitual, and whether he would admit it or not, it was just not a life he could become accustomed to so easily.

Afterward, he became much like a lone wolf, wandering in and out when hungry, or in need of a bath, or needing a tender pat on the back when feeling down. He never had the common courtesy to tell her when he was leaving, nor did he ever think to tell her when he would bother to show up again.

And yet, she knew exactly where he was all the time. The church. It was his little world in that church, possibly since he came crashing down in it several years prior, after the explosion in the Mako Reactor above. That was where he met the woman who changed his and so many other people's lives there. It was quiet, which he loved, and it was safe, which wasn't too bad of a perk either. Often times she'd slip in during the night to make sure he was alright, and found him curled up near Aerith's flowers, with nothing more than his arm for a pillow, and a dull lantern to keep him warm. If he hadn't come back to their bar every-so-often to shower and shave, one would possibly mistake him for a homeless person.

It wasn't like she wanted it like this either. On several occasions she was practically begging him to stay, since he had his own bed to sleep in there. It pained her to see her childhood friend cast her aside so easily with complete disregard of her and especially his own wellbeing. With the emotional state he was often in since Aerith's death, she would try her best to make him happy and comfortable, but always had her feelings and her generosity thrown aside. She knew that it hurt him as well, but once again, he was that lone wolf. And there was nothing she or anyone could do to control him.

But at that moment the front door opened and in stepped the feral pooch, dripping from the rain and looking rather weary.

"We're closed." Tifa pretended not to notice him as he shut the door behind himself quietly. She could hear the familiar sound of his boots as he walked across the floor toward her, and the sound of the various buckles and belts he wore, chiming as he moved. And then there was that all too sweet scent he often smelled of which anyone would think to be perfume if they hadn't known he slept by a hundred flowers each night. He smelled wonderful, and nothing like a homeless person.

"The sign says you're open." His soft voice reached her ears, and even though she knew it was him from the start, it still made her heart jump and her stomach flutter. She was so happy to see him, but like any woman would after not seeing someone she cared about for several days, she played the part.

"You're late." She responded, picking up a glass and slamming it down on the counter. Her eyes slowly looked up at him and their gaze met. Her face said "What the hell are you doing here?" but her eyes screamed "Where the hell have you been, I've been so worried!"

He shifted uncomfortably on his feet, his eyes flickering down in a sheepish expression. It was a look that was hard to stay mad at, and it was his way of saying that he was sorry. If he had a tail, it'd be between his legs at this point.

She sighed, defeated against a look like that and she reached under the counter and grabbed his usual. Gin and tonic. "You look terrible."

"I'm sorry." He still stood there, knowing that she was no longer angry with him, but he was still afraid to move. Sometimes she scared the living hell out of him.

"Here." She set the glass down on the counter, once filled, and watched as he cautiously sat down, as if he were that hungry dog being offered food from a stranger. "And you're soaking wet. I'm not mopping up after you, you know."

Cloud frowned even more than he already was, which she found almost impossible for him to do since he always looked so distraught.

He took a small sip, and winced a little at the strength. He really must have looked like he needed a drink for her to make it this strong. He wondered if she had even put any tonic in it at all. "Are you trying to get me messed up?"

She smiled with a sly smile that one could mistake for a 'come hither' look. "You just looked thirsty." Her smile widened as he took yet another sip, this time, it was actually more of a gulp....and then gone. She took the glass from him and swapped it with a new one, but filled with whiskey this time. "Reno came by the other day looking for you," she began as she set the shot-glass down in front of him. "He said Rufus has another favor to ask of you."

"No." And the shot was gone.

"That's what I told him."

"Then there's no more need to talk about it."

"Okay, okay!" She shook her head as she began to wash his glass. "You seem especially ornery today. Something you want to talk about?"

Silence.

"Okay, fine." She sighed once more, as she shrugged her shoulders. "I just thought there was something on your mind, is all."

More silence.

She placed the clean glass in the drying rack near the sink, then set her hands down on the counter and let the water drip onto the surface. She scolded herself in her head for not washing the towels the past week as she now had nothing to dry up with. Didn't matter much at this point as Cloud was dripping all over the counter anyway.

"You should change before you catch cold, you know. I can't afford you getting sick, what with the deliveries and all. I can't ride that motorcycle of yours otherwise I'd do them myself since you never seem to be around anymore." She looked at him briefly, to see if she could rile up a reaction from him. Anything other than silence.

But more silence.

She began to get angry. "Cloud, what do you see me as? Aren't we family?" She threw her hands up to her waist, glaring down at him. He had his head cast down to where his hair had fallen into his eyes. She couldn't read his expression. "I can't take this anymore. With each day you're becoming more and more distant with me and I don't know why. I thought we could talk like how we used to when we all became a family when we rebuilt this place. But you must see us as nothing but a place to sleep and eat."

The silence was broken with the sound of the glass in the rack shifting as it dried. It startled her slightly.

But still, more silence from him.

"Fine. I'll be whatever you need me to be. Your cook, your maid, your boss, but God forbid a friend. You got that, Cloud?"

His head was still cast down.

"...Cloud?" She stood for a moment, trying to listen to see if he was even still breathing because he was so silent, so inanimate. "Are...you okay?"

He suddenly stood.

A rush of relief washed over her as he finally moved, but soon turned to confusion over the expression he wore on his face.

Or rather, the lack of an expression.

His face was completely void of any emotion, and his eyes...his eyes were suddenly green, the pupils elongated, almost like a cat's would be. He looked like a doll being controlled by a puppet master as he turned and moved over to the corner of the bar.

_Controlled like a doll... _She thought to herself and suddenly let out a horrified gasp.

"C-Cloud!" She jumped over the counter swiftly, her face draining of its color, her entire body trembling with fear. She went to grasp his arm but he moved away before she had a chance. She watched as he squatted down next to the wall and reached down beside a bar stool. He stood up, bringing forth an envelope.

She blinked at the envelope, not having noticed it at all since she had been tending to the bar that day. None of her customers had brought anything into the bar except for their thirst, their wallets and emotional baggage. She glanced up at his face which was still dead. It was the same void look he wore at the Northern Crater when he handed the Black Materia over to Sephiroth.

She repeated his name, stronger this time. She stepped forward and reached up, grasping his face in her hands. "Cloud!"

He suddenly blinked, letting out a questionable noise. He opened his mouth to say something, but all he was able to muster was yet another noise.

Finally, her name. "Tifa?"

She stood there silently, her hands still gripping the sides of his face firmly, afraid to let go.

"What...happened?" His eyes glanced down to his hands, which held the envelope. "What's this?"

"You...don't remember anything?"

He looked back up at her, a flash of confusion and anger coursing through his eyes. "Remember what? Don't mess with me."

Her hands fell from the sides of his face as he spoke those words, and it dug right into her soul. "I-I'm....I'm not." She swallowed the lump that grew in her throat. How could he say that to her? She fought back tears of guilt.

But the feeling of tears soon turned to confusion as her mouth dropped open then. Her eyes were fixated on a single red line that appeared on Cloud's face. She watched a small trickle of blood run from his nose. "You're bleeding..."

"What?" Cloud went to reach up to his face, but suddenly found himself sucking in a short breath, as he squeezed his eyes shut. He pressed his hands to the sides of his head as he dropped the envelope. A high pitched screech was reverberating in his mind, but Tifa could hear nothing.

She saw however, Cloud collapse to his knees and black out.

~*~*~

"It happened again," she spoke softly, removing the damp cloth from Cloud's forehead. She glanced back to the burly man standing in the doorway of the children's room, his arms folded across his chest. "Like back when Sephiroth could control him."

Barret stepped in the room and walked to the bed where Cloud slept. He looked down at his friend and scoffed slightly. "Shit, poor fool. Does he ever get a break?"

Tifa whipped around in her chair and shot him a heavy look. "Did you not hear what I said? He was being _controlled_ like how he used to when _Sephiroth_ was around." She threw the cloth into a small bowl of cold water.

"Yeah, yeah, I heard ya. I just dun wanna believe it." He rubbed the back of his neck with his real hand, letting out an elongated sigh. "So what'd the envelope have inside?" He watched as Cloud shifted in his sleep, his eyes squeezing shut hard, then relaxing.

Tifa paused for a moment, her mind trying to grasp what she was about to say very carefully. She spoke softly, and slowly. "There was a note inside. All it said was 'Live.'" She shook her head as she squeezed the water out of the cloth.

"Whaddya think it means?"

Tifa frowned as Cloud groaned softly in his sleep as she placed the cloth back down on his forehead. "I...have no idea."

"Lemme see it."

~*~*~

It was innocent enough in design. A plain white envelope that the note was tucked into. Nothing suspicious or alarming about it and inside, the actual note was just as boring. Hand written with pen, it practically screamed 'Just minding my own business, nothing to see here.'

Barret flipped it over several times, then shrugged. "I dunno. Just looks like a goddamned note to me."

Tifa grabbed it back from him and tucked it away inside Cloud's desk in his room. She lowered her voice, as Cloud slept across the hall. "Don't tell him about it, okay?"

"I really don't see what the damn deal is, Tifa." His voice was loud and irritated. Typical Barret.

She hushed him, closing the door halfway after glancing across to see if Barret's voice had woken up the blonde. "Will you lower your voice? He cannot know about this, you got it? If you say anything to him I'll tear that other arm off!"

Barret swallowed hard, as a single bead of sweat rolled down his temple. "Y-yes'am." He shifted nervously on his feet. "But don'tcha think you're over reacting? I mean, Sephiroth is gone. Maybe Spikey was just tired. Didn'tcha say he looked like total crap?"

"Yes but-"

He cut her off, "Prolly just was messin' with ya to get ya to stop yellin' at 'im. Now I feel sorry for 'im. Poor fool."

Her fist clenched down at her side, she suddenly had the urge to take her gloves out. But she calmed herself, and decided to spare the man for now. Letting out a soft sigh, her voice then came out in a waver as she spoke. "I don't want anything bad to happen to him. I want to protect him."

Barret's face softened, his mouth twinging to the side in the best sympathetic look he could manage. "I know, but this seems pretty harmless to me. Ya know they pumped the kid full of those damn JENOVA cells, right? That shit will mess with your head." He tapped his temple a few times, "Maybe it just never goes away. Maybe something just sparked it up again."

She looked up at him, her mind in distress. Barret was in denial, she knew. But she wanted to believe him. She wanted to grasp onto any bit of evidence that this could have just been a freak instant, and that everything was fine. She didn't want to see her childhood friend go through any more grief. She wanted him to just live his life in peace with her and the children here, as a family. They were all he had, and he was all they had as well.

The conversation stopped then as a noise was heard from the other room. Tifa pushed Barret aside and scrambled for the door. She flung it open to find Cloud standing at the side of the bed, adjusting his collar.

"Hey," Tifa poked out into the hallway, stepping up the small flight of stairs to the children's room, "how're you feeling?"

He didn't look up at her, as he reached down to the side of the bed and grabbed his leather sword holster. He swung it over his shoulder silently. He then reached down and adjusted the bottom of his pant legs over his boots.

She wondered how much of the conversation he may have heard, if anything at all as he seemed rather aggravated about something. But then again, this was his usual behavior at times. She wasn't all that surprised. But after the day's events, she couldn't help but consider how much of it did he actually remember. She suddenly felt a rush of cool air as he walked past her, and she got the scent of flowers in her nose.

"Where are you going?" She went to rush after him, but found herself walking into his back as he stopped short, his head turned to his room across the hall.

His voice came out low, almost a whisper. "What're you doing here?"

A quick scoff and Barret emerged from Cloud's bedroom door, with the envelope in his hands. "Good to see ya too, Spikey."

"Barret!!" Tifa screamed at him and lunged for the envelope. It was suddenly gone.

"Thanks," Cloud replied, stuffing the envelope into his pocket, he turned and headed down the stairs.

Tifa let out an angered scream and punched Barret in the stomach before running after him.

~*~*~

She followed him from Edge, all the way back to Midgar.

And Cloud could move quick, even Tifa had to jog to keep up with his walking stride. It was definitely something he picked up as a Shin-RA infantryman. She found herself slipping slightly in the mud of the slums as he whisked his way toward the Sector 5 church in the rain.

"Please stop!"

And of course he kept on walking.

Tifa's voice began to plead, which she hated doing with him because it never worked. "Cloud, please!!!"

Never say never.

He stopped and turned, watching his friend catch up with him, dripping wet in the rain, her boots and legs were covered in mud from slipping several times. She panted as she finally reached him, brushing a wet strand of hair out of her eyes. She smudged mud across her milky skin as she did this.

"Tifa," he began quietly. He stopped, seeing the tears she had in her eyes. They fell from her long lashes and streaked across the mud on her face. She looked so pitiful.

"Why are you running away again? You don't even know what this is all about. Have you even looked in the envelope? Do you even know what it says?" She was rambling.

Cloud peered at her with strange eyes, as if she were speaking another language. "What're you talking about?"

"The envelope!"

He frowned and reached into his pocket, pulling out a white envelope. He opened it and showed her the contents. "You mean the Gil Barret owed me for repairing his truck last week?"

A large feeling of relief washed over her, but she was definitely going to kill Barret next time she saw him. She closed her eyes and shook her head, trying to muster forth an explanation for her behavior. "Y-you forgot to pay me for the drinks earlier." Very quick thinking indeed...

"Hey, those are perks that come with the job."

Tifa looked up and could almost see him smiling. She relaxed a little. Often times she longed to see him smile again. To see him just let go of all his emotions into a laugh that was real. A laugh from his soul. She wished he could love, too. That lone wolf in him would stand back from the crowds, staring longingly into the emotions people had, almost envious of their ability to live and just, exist. She could tell he wanted to be close, to just let himself be held and pampered by another human being. She knew he was tired of running away from his family that cared so much for him. But instinct, experience and memories keep a lone wolf from ever trusting anyone.

They stood there, letting the rain fall down on them, as if the sky were trying to get their attention. But they ignored it, and suddenly they seemed like they were the only two people in the world.

She took a step forward, her hand going to her chest. "Where are you going then...?"

He stayed quiet, his eyes flickering back and forth on hers. He felt his heart skip a beat as she took one more step closer to him. He wanted to reach up and brush the mud from her face. He wanted to pull her close and shield her from the rain. He just wanted to be near her.

The old feelings flowed back into him at that moment, back from when they were children. How he longed to be close to her like the other kids were in their town. She was popular of course, and he was...well, not. The other kids shunned him oftentimes as he was quiet and shy. They perceived him as a loner, which of course he was, but Cloud hated them immensely anyway, and thought he was better than they were for the childish way they acted at times. During the day he'd be left out as they played, and he sat there, under the water tower in the shade watching as they would chase Tifa around, laughing. But when they were a little bit older, one night when the other children were inside, she snuck out and met him at the water tower.

They talked for hours under the stars, about their future. About how Cloud would join SOLDIER and become as great as Sephiroth. He would inflate himself, talking of the amazing achievements he would accomplish, just to see her smile. Her eyes would light up as he would depict himself battling a Behemoth with a sword bigger than Sephiroth's, and with magic far greater than the hero's. Between all of this, he would glance back at her and see her hanging on every word, her hands gripping her skirt in anticipation of his story. How he loved to see her infatuated with him. How he loved her...

_Maybe one touch...won't hurt..._

He stepped toward her, the rain trickling down his face. His hair was becoming matted against his skin and his eyes were gentle and innocent. His lips parted slightly, letting a soft breath come from his chest as his heart began to race. He watched as she bit her bottom lip, causing the rain on her face to collect underneath her chin. It dropped down onto the earth and disappeared.

All sound stopped for them at that moment as they uncomfortably shifted toward each other. Their bodies succumbing to their hearts, they found themselves inches away staring into the other's eyes.

_Just one...won't hurt..._

Cloud began to reach up with his trembling hands. His breath began to quicken as she closed her eyes, tilting her head up slightly for him. She looked so beautiful.

She found herself rising on her feet, her hand going to his chest. Tears fell from the sides of her eyes. She could feel his heart pounding in his body, screaming out at her with untold feelings.

His hands were at her shoulders now, but slowly moved upward toward her face as he leaned forward.

_Won't...hurt..._

He began to choke her.

~*~*~

His mind failed to grasp any single thought at that moment, and every emotion, every feeling he had ever felt began to swarm into his brain. His entire body felt heavy as everything had turned blue, his vision in his mind being attacked with images of his past.

A silver-haired man in the fire.

His hands continued to wrap themselves around her neck tightly, and he could feel his weight towering over hers. He could feel her scratching at his arms, trying to break free from his grip.

A headless creature behind shattered glass.

He could feel her breath on his hands fading slowly, her face losing its color. Her arms slowly sank to her sides, swinging lifelessly.

A man standing before him, injecting his body with a substance that made his world turn blue.

He dropped to his knees as her body began to become limp, still hanging onto her fragile neck. He could feel his knuckles become numb. His arms trembled with ire.

A black-haired man smiling at him with kind eyes.

His eyes darted uncontrollably at the image now quite clear before him. Tifa lay on the ground below covered in mud, and no longer breathing.

He closed his eyes, hoping to see the black-haired man still smiling at him.

All he saw was Sephiroth.

He felt an immense pain in his head at that moment and could hear the sounds of his psyche fracture.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

...To be continued in Chapter Two: Live

Ending Author's Note: Thank you for reading, my friends! I haven't written anything in about....oh, eight years or so, so it's been quite a while! Comments and critiques are very welcome, as long as they're honest, respectful and open-minded. I have the next few chapters already written, and I'm planning on releasing the next one on Friday, July 17th and possibly the third chapter on the Friday after that. It'll give me time to get ahead. ^_^ So check back in a few more days for Chapter Two! It's going to be very thrilling I promise!! Cloud Strife and all related Final Fantasy VII characters are copyrighted Square Enix.... and this story is copyrighted me. Thank you once again!


	2. Chapter Two: Live

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Chapter Two: Live

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Tifa stood there with wide eyes, watching as Cloud had his hands outstretched toward her, his fingers contorted into a choking position. He had been standing like that for some time now and hadn't moved, hadn't uttered a single word or sound. She took a step back, gazing upon the glazed look he wore yet again on his face, looking into his now bewildering green eyes. He stood like a statue as the rain fell upon him, causing his hair to be the only thing on his body that moved. Blood ran from his nose once more.

Her mind reeled with thoughts that were screaming at her, trying to tell her what to do. Her body refused to move as she watched the blood from his nose drizzle down onto his lips. It mixed with the rain on his face. She was able to squeak out a tiny voice of shock at that moment however.

And of course, all she could think of saying was his name.

"Cloud..." Her voice trailed off weakly, and was drowned out by the sound of the rain hitting the metal debris along the slum's street.

She repeated his name louder this time, refusing to be overshadowed by the weather.

Still no response from him.

She finally was able to move her legs as she lunged forward, her hands going to his that were still outstretched. She forced his arms down to his sides and wrapped hers around his body, pulling him against her.

"Please, come back!"

Cloud suddenly let out a soft noise and she could feel his body becoming limp against hers. She held him up as his head fell against her shoulder, his hair brushing up against the side of her face and it made her senses quiver.

They stood, in silence, even though she knew his mind had returned. She could feel him breathing heavy against her, and could feel the warm blood from his nose trickle down onto her bare shoulder. The rain continued to let them know it was watching.

Tifa finally spoke slowly, her voice sweet and calm. "Let's get you back home."

She suddenly found herself being torn away from the man when she spoke this, and he stepped back. His now normal blue eyes were cast down, the blood was smeared across his face. His breathing was erratic, but his body was passive, and confident. She knew where this was heading.

"I have to..."

"Go," she finished his sentence, her hands going to the sides of her arms for comfort and warmth. "I know."

He lowered his head and took one step back. "I'm.."

"Sorry," she nodded her head mindlessly as she looked away from him, trying to fight back the tears that suggested to flow. "I know..."

And with that, Cloud disappeared behind the side of the church. Moments later she could hear the sound of the Fenrir starting up with its monstrous growl. She began to shiver uncontrollably as she saw, from the corner of her eye, Cloud pulling the motorcycle out onto the street. She watched as he paused, his back turned to her.

She waited for him to turn back once more and give her one last look, but she knew he never would.

Tifa discovered at that moment, that sometimes never does mean never.

~*~*~

The red-headed Turk lounged on the couch inside a building in Healen. His arms were folded under the back of his head and his legs were crossed, kicking lazily to a tune he played in his own head.

His partner in crime leaned against a wall, glancing down at a gold watch he wore around his dark wrist, gazing at it almost impatiently. Although Turks weren't allowed to be impatient.

"God, I'm so freakin' impatient!" Reno cried, flopping over onto his side, propping his head up with his hand. "He said he'd be here, so where the hell is he?"

Rude cleared his throat, stiffening at Reno's childish demeanor. "I don't know. Now settle down before the President hears you again. I don't feel like getting my ass chewed out because you can't control your impulses."

"Yer so mean, Rude." Reno let out a rather loud yawn, not even bothering to cover his mouth with his hand. "I'm gonna take a nap. All this waitin' is makin' me tired so," he lowered his head down on the couch and shifted to become more comfortable, "cover for me, will ya?"

Rude said nothing, as this was normal behavior of his partner.

"Thanks. I owe ya." And he let out a long sigh, allowing himself to drift into what he was hoping would be a very long and comfortable nap. But he soon found himself falling off the couch in surprise as the door to the small building flung open and in walked the blonde ex-SOLDIER wielding not a weapon, but a dangerous look on his face.

"Where's Rufus?" He demanded.

Reno sputtered, sitting up on his knees. "Well 'hello' to you too, partner!"

A swift movement and Reno found himself staring at a rather sharp blade at his Adam's Apple. "H-hello..." his voice trailed off, falsetto.

"You look tired," Rude stepped forward as Cloud lowered his weapon. "Care for a cup of-"

"Where is Rufus!?" His voice was louder now, and his sword now pointed at Rude.

"President!" Reno wailed, standing up, "There's a rather pissed off lookin' SOLDIER here ta see ya!"

Rude shifted uncomfortably, readjusting the tie he wore on his neck. "Dammit Reno."

The sound of light footsteps was heard then, and everyone turned their attention to a doorway that lead off into the rest of the building. In stepped Rufus, who was no longer confined to the wheelchair he had been tied to since the explosion at Junon several years prior, and the bout of Geostigma he was plagued with. He was looking much healthier, which made Cloud's next decision a hell of a lot easier.

Before Rufus could speak, he found himself pinned up against the nearest wall in the hallway by the scruff of his shirt, staring back at the wild eyes of the ex-SOLDIER. He glanced down at Cloud's barred teeth and tried to muster a chuckle. "And how can I help you?"

Cloud pressed him against the wall hard, a low growl emitting from deep within his throat. "You think this is funny?!" He felt a pair of hands begin to grab his shoulders from behind, but he somehow managed to shrug them away.

Rufus coughed meekly, trying to keep his composure. "I don't find this funny at all. I want to know why you're wrinkling my shirt like this."

Cloud let out a yell then, and flung Rufus against the opposite wall. He briefly caught a glimpse of Reno and Rude's startled faced through the doorway.

"You son-of-a-bitch!" Cloud went to connect his fist with Rufus'...well, anything. He didn't care where he hit the man, as long as his fist met up with Rufus' body he would have been quite content at this point.

But he never got that satisfaction as he was the one who was suddenly pinned to the cold floor by Reno. "Hey buddy, settle down!"

Cloud tried to wriggle out of Reno's grip, but the weight of the Turk's body on his was far greater than the strength it would have taken him at that point to knock him off. Cloud continued to struggle, however, despite this fact.

Rufus leaned against the wall he was up against previously, panting. He silently refused help from Rude who offered to help him stand straight, and did it himself, brushing his shirt off with his hand. He looked down at Reno. "Let him go. He doesn't have the strength to fight you anyway, can't you tell? He's weak as a Moggle right now."

Reno obeyed and slid off of Cloud tense body, reluctantly.

Cloud sat up, trembling with what was either anger or exhaustion at this point, but no one could actually tell. "Go to hell," he hissed. He looked up at Reno who had extended his hand down to him, to help him stand.

"C'mon man, get up." He let out a small sound of surprise as Cloud knocked his hand away. "Okay, okay, geez." Reno nursed his hand with a look that a child would have when denied a piece of candy.

Cloud stood gradually, his breathing finally coming under control. "What do you know about me?" He looked up slowly to the President, his Mako eyes glowing in the dark hallway. It was quite a scary sight.

Rufus grinned ever-so-softly, almost a smirk. "What do you wish to know?"

~*~*~

Tears fell down onto his desk, soaking into papers that were scattered about on top. The sound of her faint crying could be heard throughout the house, but no one was there to hear her. She slipped down to her knees, clutching the open desk drawer, burying her face in her arms. Her whole body was racked with sobs as she struggled to catch her breath. Her shoulders trembled, her eyes were burning, her lips curled into the only shape she knew how to form while she cried.

She let out a sharp scream then, as fury took over her actions. She tore the desk drawer from its slot and flung it behind her. It slid out into the hallway, the sound of the wood scraping against the floor would make one's spine numb, and the hair stand up straight on the neck of a Kalm Fang.

Tifa let out an incoherent voice that she wasn't even aware of what she had said and she sat there, sobbing to herself.

The desk drawer was empty.

~*~*~

"'Live.'?" Rufus pulled the paper, which was now rather crumpled and wet from the rain, away from his face. He removed his reading glasses and tossed them onto the table in which he sat. "Seems innocent enough to me." He glanced up at Cloud who stood there, who ignored the chair they offered him, and ignored the dinner they had tried to feed him, since he had looked rather worse-for-the-wear. "You should eat, Cloud."

"You should shut up and tell me the damn truth."

He let out a chuckle then, folding his hands in front of his face as he pressed his mouth against his fingers. He talked from behind his hands. "I honestly don't know a thing about this."

Cloud slammed his hand down on the table, causing a cup to wobble around. "Enough!"

Reno rushed to the table and caught the precarious beverage in his hands, letting out a sigh of relief. "Got it!" His face fell flat, however, as his saving that cup knocked down another that sat nearby, and it spilled its contents out onto the table. "Goddammit."

Rufus watched as Cloud began to pace back and forth in front of him. His eyes scanned the blonde and tried to analyze what he had been through recently. He had lost some weight since he had last seen him during the incident with Kadaj, and now his hair was disheveled from it's usual immaculate spiky position, and dark circles adorned his eyes. The average trip from Midgar to Healen was about two days with a vehicle, give or take the amount of monsters that would slow one down along the way. But Cloud had made it in one day so that suggested he hadn't slept or ate anything at all during the trip and drove at break-neck speeds.

He glanced over to his two Turks, and they seemed to have been doing the same thing at that moment, as Cloud bounced back and forth like a jittery Cactuar. Reno watched him with a concerned look on his face, as Rude was his usual stone-cold self.

Rufus sat there patiently, collected, as he waited for Cloud to speak rather than wear a track in his wood floor. He was getting dizzy just from watching him.

Cloud finally stopped pacing and turned to Rufus, with nothing less than a crazed expression, which suggested that the man needed some sleep, or at least a Tranquilizer. He began to say something, but stopped and then resumed his pacing.

Rufus sucked in a breath to speak, which finally ceased the pacing. He spoke gently, "Ever hear of 'Project Z'?"

Cloud's eyes widened, turning slowly on his heels to look at the President, a dubious look to his face. "What?"

"As far as I know, Professor Hojo hired an understudy before the Sephiroth incident at Nibelheim, your hometown."

The chair was finally pulled from underneath the table and Cloud sat.

Rufus continued. "His name was Professor Hait. A brilliant mind, indeed. Which wasn't surprising since he was Hojo's brother." He could hear Cloud swallow loudly and at first thought he had finally touched his food, but he hadn't. Stubborn fool.

"My father, the President at the time, told Hojo that there was no room in the budget for an understudy, but the bastard never listened," he laughed as his eyes stared off into nothing. "He cost the company millions of Gil for his experiments."

"What is Project Z?" Cloud interrupted, his voice low and demanding.

Rufus ignored him, however, and continued with his progressing story. "Hait was just as ambitious and devious as his brother was. The warped gears of his mind were always turning at an RPM no one could follow," he sipped out of his tea cup and set it down without a sound, "and after studying Hojo's infinite supply of notes, files and even tape recordings, he was able to surpass what his brother failed to do."

"What is Project Z!?" Cloud stood, beginning to let himself be overcome by rage, his patience left outside in the rain.

"If you want information from me, you'll have to listen to my story, you got that?" Rufus' voice was more demanding than that of Cloud's, which made his position within Shin-Ra rather apparent. "Now sit down and drink your goddamn tea."

Cloud slid back down into his seat, obeying, needing the information to calm his ever fleeting sanity. He bounced his leg nervously. This caught the Turks' attention and they glanced up at the President, wondering how long he was planning on torturing Cloud with such mindless information before he got to his point.

It wasn't much longer now, but Cloud didn't know that. His leg continued to bounce.

He continued, his voice back at its low volume, the words flowing out of him as if he were reading a script as he spoke so eloquently. "Let's jump back many years ago, about thirty years, to a man who, I will humbly call 'V', is mortally shot and killed."

Cloud was unaware but he was swaying back and forth in his seat ever-so-slightly.

"'V' initially became one of Hojo's most failed experiments of all time, actually. Imagine," his eyes met Cloud's, burning right through him, "being able to resurrect the dead."

Rufus laughed suddenly, shaking his head. "What an absurd idea, isn't it? A life can't be brought back from the Lifestream...unless they have strong ties to something here on the Planet, or so they say." He tapped the table a few times with his fingers, turning his head to gaze out the window. He watched the rain trickle down the glass. "What exactly happens to us, when we die, Cloud?" He turned his head back, their eyes locking once more. "Do any of us really know?"

Cloud's voice came out very weak. "What are you getting at?" He watched as Rufus stood, striding over to the window to get a better view of the swaying trees outside, tucked away between the mountains.

He ignored Cloud's question and continued with his monologue. "A lovely woman named Lucrecia Crescent found out how to bring someone back from the Lifestream. Our protagonist, 'V', was injected with pure Mako, much, much more pure than you were showered in during your captivity in the Shin-Ra mansion. Of course, back then pure Mako was easier to come by than it was when you were experimented on."

Rufus leaned back in his chair, his arms crossing against his chest. "But that wasn't enough. 'V' had to be merged with something else. Something of a greater power. Something that could carry his soul back from the Lifestream, back to this Planet amongst the living."

He spoke firmly. "Chaos."

Cloud could feel the shiver run down his spine, but he resisted the urge to react.

Rufus began to speak rather casually now, and not so scripted. "So, merged with the legendary servant of OMEGA WEAPON, 'V' was, unbeknownst to Lucrecia and Hojo at the time, brought back from the depths of the dead. So why couldn't Hait do the same? After many months of research and being hulled up in the Shin-Ra mansion, he stumbled across another way to raise the dead. An easier way. A way with more resources and stability, as you see, using Chaos was a very unstable method. It caused the human host to lose control of his sanity, and even his body."

A short laugh from the President and he continued. "It was almost too simple, and Hait was surprised that both the genius minds of his brother and Lucrecia had missed it. And thus, this launched 'Project Z'."

Rufus walked behind Cloud and stopped, staring down at him from above. He could see Cloud stiffen as he spoke. "Merging a JENOVA cell injected corpse with a Summon Materia. How could Hojo have missed something so simple? Summons are already contained, crystallized in pure Mako from the Planet. They're already user-friendly, for lack of a better phrase," he chuckled and walked back around the table to his chair. He did not sit however, but leaned against it, his hands gripping the back of it with his slender fingers. "Summon Materia are stable, and if the corpse host already had a knowledge of how to wield Summons in their wake, what more of a better fit could one ask for?"

Cloud processed this in his already fragile state-of-mind. He let it sink in, and let Rufus just stare at him with a pompous look that probably deserved a smacking for. However, he was too overwhelmed to deal that out, at the moment.

"Of course, this is purely hearsay on my part. I have no idea if these accounts are true or not. They're only rumors." He shrugged nonchalantly, as if dismissing everything he had previously stated with just that one sentence.

Cloud stood, forcing his legs to stop trembling with wrath for the man before him, and the story he just spoon-fed to him. "Are you telling me," he looked at Rufus, his eyes quivering with rage, "that, the dead can be brought back to life?"

Rufus didn't reply, he just stood there staring right back at the blonde man, who was now breathing heavy.

"Answer me!" Cloud screamed, grabbing the chair he once sat on and tossed it against the wall. Three out of the four legs splintered off and rolled underneath the table. Cloud paused, waiting for the man to speak. He let out a small growl and turned, heading for the door.

"It seems rather outlandish to me," he finally spoke, and Cloud stopped in his tracks. "But what do I know? I'm just the President." He looked at Cloud as he began to reach for the door. "Because you and I both know Cloud, that behind every President there is always someone else pulling the strings."

Cloud slammed the door behind him.

~*~*~

The phone was ringing. And ringing, and ringing. And with each high pitched wail that came from the phone, it dug deeper and deeper into the old pilot's ears. He groaned, rubbing his eyes, unaware that he smeared grease across the bridge of his nose.

And it kept on ringing.

"GODDAMMIT SHERA PICK UP THE GODDAMNED PHONE!" He screeched, the smoldering stick in his mouth almost dropping to the ground, but he would never allow such a travesty to happen to one of his cigarettes.

He scoffed once the ringing had ceased, and resumed tinkering with a part to an old pick-up truck he had found abandoned on a dirt road near North Corel. "Now, lesse..." he stuck his head within the hood of the truck, breathing in deep. How he loved the smell of oil and grease.

The phone rang again.

How he hated the sound of the phone ringing.

And then the sound of a four letter expletive resonated beneath the truck's hood.

Cid pulled himself out from the hood and chucked the piece he had been working with against the wall of his workshop. "That piece was junk, anyway."

He wiped his hands briefly on his pants and made his way down the dirt path to the home he shared with Shera. The sound of the phone grated more on his nerves as he entered the house. The noise became increasingly louder as Cid's cigarette became increasingly shorter.

"Where the hell are you, woman?" He called around, but she was no where to be found. "Damn her."

He reached the kitchen and snatched the phone up from the receiver, yelling out his greeting even before the phone connected his ear. "WHAT!?"

His irritated demeanor instantly faded however as the voice on the other end spoke. "Holy shit, how the hell are ya?"

He listened as the voice spoke softly, and he had to press the phone to his ear and plug the other with his finger to hear properly. A line of ashes fell from his cigarette onto the counter top below. "Yeah, I could do that. I could be there in a few hours. You by yourself?" He rubbed the back of his neck, blinking several times in confusion. "Where did ya say ya were again?"

At that moment, Shera finally walked in through the side door carrying a plate with a sandwich on it. She stood, blinking at Cid as he nodded several times to the phone.

He noticed her standing there finally, and he glanced back, throwing his arms up in defeat, mouthing the words 'Where the hell were ya?' to her. "Yeah, I got it. I'll swing by soon so sit tight." Cid hung up the phone and whipped around to Shera with a sarcastic look on his face.

He was no longer just mouthing the words. "And where the hell were ya??"

Her shoulders sank, "Trying to find you to give you your lunch." She hung her head, ashamed.

"Ya know I hate answerin' this damn thing!" He walked toward her and snatched the sandwich up from the plate and took a large bite, glaring down at her. But his scowl soon turned to a smile as she looked so distraught over not answering the phone for him.

Cid leaned down and gave her a tender kiss on her forehead. "Ya need to stop makin' it so easy for me to yell atcha."

She looked up at him, her cheeks beginning to blush. "S-sorry."

He downed the last of the sandwich in a rather large gulp as he moved toward the door, grabbing his spear which leaned up against the wall. "And stop apologizing! Ya don't even know whatcher apologizin' fer!"

"Wait, where are you going?" She put the pieces of the puzzle from the last few minutes or so together as he stopped in the doorway.

"Out."

"When will you be back...?"

"Dunno."

"Okay, phone when you can."

He turned slowly on his heels, a pained look on his face, but she could tell he was enjoying the bantering between them. "Ya don't answer the goddamned phone ever, so why should I bother?"

She smiled sweetly at him, and his eyes smiled back at her, but he kept the scorned look on his face for show. "I'll see you when I see you then, dear."

"Yeah, yeah." And he left with a very wide grin on his face, swinging his Venus Gospel over his shoulder.

~*~*~

The quiet hum of the the ship relaxed the tense nerves of its pilot. Cid had been flying for a few hours now, over the Western continent towards the Junon area, searching the land for his passenger. The sun was beginning to set, which cast a pinkish glow across the ocean and sky, making it hard to tell the difference between the two. It was almost blinding.

He sucked on a cigarette, and was already thinking about how he was going to smoke the next one that peeked out from the top of the strap on his goggles. It stood there, teasing him, begging him to be plucked from the rest and smoked with fervor and passion. At times he wished smoking two at once would look as cool as smoking one, but that would just be overkill.

Rounding his third hour of flying, he finally spotted a figure in the grassy plains near the outskirts of Junon, pushing a large, and to Cid's opinion, rather gaudy motorcycle.

He lowered his ship some fifty feet away and he could see the the figure stop, shielding his eyes from the debris the propellers and jet engines had kicked up upon its graceful landing. Compared to his old ship, the_ Highwind_, this one had much more agile control and precise landing capabilities. Good qualities in the_ Shera_.

Cid released the hanger door and he could hear the mechanical whirl of the ramp as it lowered and it resonated throughout the ship. A smile played across his face, the sound sending wonderful chills across his body. He flipped a switch and pressed a few buttons on the console near the helm and then hurried off down to the lower deck of the control room. He plucked that smug cigarette from the rest and lit it up.

"Cloud, ya sonuvabitch!" He laughed heartily, bounding down the ramp, grinning at the blonde man who continued to push the now docile Fenrir with nothing less than the comradery a warrior would have for a fallen friend. "How the hell are ya!?" He reached him finally, embracing him in a forceful bear hug and he slapped his back more times than Cloud could count. "Doin' better than yer bike, I see!" He pulled back and gave Cloud one last slap on his shoulder.

"It died on me. One of the throttle cables snapped."

"Hey!" He smacked Cloud upside the head. "First rule in vehicle owning, bud. Ya don't call yer bike an 'it'."

Cloud rubbed the side of his head, frowning at the pilot. "Then what the hell do you call it?"

"'She'."

"Seems sexist."

Cid motioned down to Fenrir as she sat there quietly, listening to the conversation. "She doesn't seem to mind."

"Whatever." Cloud shook his head, moving the conversation along. "Think you can fix it...er...her?" He suddenly frowned at the stinging pain Cid caused him in numerous places on his body. He was going to miss those capillaries dearly. "And you're abusive."

Cid let out a raucous laugh, almost dropping the cigarette from his mouth. "C'mon in, my boy! Let's get you two settled!"

Cloud then wondered if calling Cid was a bad idea for both him, and Fenrir.

~*~*~

The steam from the tea twirled and danced above the cup as his eyes followed. Stretching out with the cool draft in the small living quarters, it floated lazily away, disappearing into the air around. He could hardly wait for it to cool down. It was torturous.

"How long ya been traveling?" Cid sat down across from Cloud, eyeing him eyeing the tea.

"About a week."

"How long's yer bike been out?"

"About a week."

Cid's mind reeled like a DMW, as he slammed his hands down on the table. "Are you shittin' me!?" His eyes fixated on the blonde man as he tried to take a sip of the tea, but set it back down on the table, making a slight face at the temperature. "You've been pushin' that thing around for an entire week?"

"Give or take a day or two."

Cid lowered his voice, his hands raising up from the table in a gesture that could only be described as 'What the hell, buddy?'. Which was exactly what he said at that moment.

"What the hell, buddy? Why didn'tcha call me sooner instead of pushing that pile-o-junk around across the goddamn continent?"

Cloud peered up at him with a guilty look on his face. His eyebrows were arched in a rather pitiful look, much like a puppy would give after being scolded for something it didn't know any better of. He stayed silent, however.

Cid scoffed, flicking the ashes from his cigarette into his own cup of tea, thinking it was an ashtray. He realized what he just did out of habit and grumbled to himself.

"Project 'Z'." Cloud spoke, his voice suddenly becoming very solemn.

Cid looked up at him, taking a rather long drag from his cigarette. "Yeah?"

"Ever hear of it?"

He shook his head, blowing smoke rings out into the air. They mingled with the steam from the tea and Cloud could no longer tell what apparition was from which source.

"The dead can be brought back to life."

Cid nearly choked on his cigarette. He coughed for a good straight minute, but finally managed to squeak out a sentence. "What the hell are ya smokin' and where can I get some of it, cowboy!?"

"I paid a visit to Rufus a week ago in Healen. He told me of a Professor named Hait who supposedly studied old research on merging a corpse with Mako and Materia."

"Well, was he successful?"

Cloud's eyes were cast down at the table then, suddenly wearing a very tired expression. "I don't know."

"Shit." Cid put his cigarette out on the table and then promptly lit up a new one. "Damn Shin-Ra quacks. Messin' with shit they shouldn't be messin' with." Another long drag. "You believe that crap?"

Cloud closed his eyes, his arms folding across his chest in thought. After a moment of silence, he just repeated himself. "I...don't know." His eyes were still closed.

"Well, what does any of this crap have to do with you?"

And again, he repeated himself, but slower this time. "I...don't...know."

Cid grinned then. "How many needles from a Cactuar does it take to pluck a Chocobo of its feathers?"

"...I....don't..." Cloud fell asleep.

Cid stood, blowing a raspberry at Cloud. "Wrong!" He began to clear the table. "No one knows, I just made that dumb-ass joke up."

~*~*~

The church was quiet with a type of peacefulness that made Tifa feel uneasy. She walked through the main aisle, glancing around as if she were in an unfamiliar place, taking in each sight with her eyes, studying it, not wanting to miss a single detail. After the battle with Kadaj, Cloud led an impromptu service to begin restoring the church to a little less than destroyed. Once the water had soaked back into the earth below, Cloud and the other men picked up the large boulders that were scattered everywhere from the cement columns that had been knocked down during the fight. Tifa, Yuffie and the children tended to the flowers that were decimated from the motorcycles that had peeled across their delicate frames. Tifa had yelled at Cloud for a good thirty minutes regarding this once she realized he was partly responsible, and he just shrank away in a corner of the church for another good thirty minutes while the others cleaned. While the flowers came back stronger than ever, the rest of the church remained relatively in its usual shambles. But Cloud seemed to like it that way, in the end.

Her heart sank then, realizing that this was Cloud's home.

She walked over to where he had kept his silver case of Materia, but that was gone. His little lantern was gone as well. He was gone.

For nine days she had been left by him, not knowing where he was going, or what he was planning on doing. She was clueless, and she knew he was too. He acted purely on impulse, with no evidence of any foul play at hand.

All he was going off of was a feeling. But of what, she wasn't sure.

Maybe Barret was right. Maybe by some chance Cloud's unexplained behavior was triggered by something, anything. An emotion, stress, a dream. Something must have sparked the Sephiroth and JENOVA cells embedded in his body, causing him to lose control all on his own. She wanted to refuse to believe that by some small chance, it could have been that fallen Hero controlling him once again.

Her eyes scanned up to the middle of the flowers, noticing something that she hadn't seen before since her fight with The Remnant.

Embedded into the ground, standing tall and spirited was a sword. The sun was cast down on it through the hole in the ceiling and it seemed to glow with a noble aura that warmed Tifa's skin. It was Cloud's old Buster Sword that he used when he first joined AVALANCHE and it brought back many memories to her which made her smile.

But she hadn't seen it in years, and why she hadn't noticed it here before made her stop and wonder. It looked like it had been recently cleaned, and even sharpened, detailed down to the very core as if whoever tended to it had more than a simple cleaning in mind.

She strode over to it, the sounds of her footsteps ceasing when she stepped down into the large bed of flowers. She carefully crossed, taking great care not to step on any of them as she reached the sword.

It looked so magnificent in the light, glowing into her, and the light it reflected actually made her squint to keep it from hurting her eyes. She reached out to touch the hilt.

The doors to the church suddenly flew open, more light from outside spilling into the building. Tifa whipped around.

She could see his figure standing there, the light behind him causing his form to silhouette in front of her. She could make out his spiky hair and she recognized the sound of his heavy footsteps on the wooden floor as he began to walk toward her. Her heart began to race with excitement.

"Cloud!" She stumbled at first in the grass, but managed to balance herself as she ran toward him. The sounds of the belts he wore making that all-too-familiar chime as he walked forward.

But she slid to a stop as the form became more visible to her.

"I'm sorry!" They both exclaimed in unison.

Tifa stammered, her face turning red from embarrassment. "I thought you were someone else."

"And I thought this place would have been deserted. Sorry, didn't know anyone would be in here!" The man laughed cheerfully.

Tifa eased up a bit, her eyes scanning up the person who stood before her.

He was glancing around, a very lost, but innocent look on his face. Tifa had a difficult time determining his age as his face and skin were young, but his dark hair had streaks of silver in it.

She grew slightly nervous once her eyes fell upon that silver hair. It reminded her too much of Sephiroth and his Remnants. But there was something different about this man. He seemed sane enough.

"Were you looking for something?" Tifa asked, glancing down at the clothes he wore. She frowned at them, as they reminded her too much of a SOLDIER uniform, except this one was missing many of the trademark parts like the large belt and armor over the shoulders. He also carried no weapon with him.

"I don't know." He replied, rubbing the back of his neck.

She pressed on, lifting an eyebrow. "Were you looking for _someone_?"

The man laughed quickly, his face forming into a rather dumbfounded look. "I don't know that either."

"What's your name?"

"I...don't know."

Her mind reeled. "You don't know your own name??"

The man thought for a minute, but the idea of him not knowing his own name didn't seem to bother him much. "Um..."

They stood there for a brief moment, the sound of the gentle wind outside the church being the only sound in the air.

"Nope, don't know it!" He laughed, his bright blue eyes almost twinkling with delight. "I don't even know why I walked in here! Just thought the place looked interesting..." His voice suddenly faded off as something in the background caught his attention. His eyes flickered behind Tifa for a second, and then readjusted on her.

Tifa caught this and turned around to see what he was looking at. "The flowers?" She motioned over to them.

He nodded, and although he had noticed the flowers, they weren't what he was actually looking at, but Tifa wasn't aware of it. He followed her over to the flowers and she knelt down, plucking a brown leaf off one of them. "Are they yours? They're very pretty."

"No, not mine. A friend's." She looked up and smiled at him as he was bent over, getting a closer look. She noticed he was a rather handsome fellow, for a stranger, with the exception of a small scar on his jawline.

His eyes flickered away once more.

Tifa turned back around and noticed the Buster Sword glimmering in the light. "That's a friend's as well."

His face was suddenly blank, but his eyes were still bright and inquisitive. His hands that were perched on his knees slowly slid up as he stood. His mouth dropped open slightly, but he uttered no sound. His eyebrows met in a look that could have been nothing less than sheer confusion.

But the two suddenly found themselves laughing uncomfortably as the man's stomach growled loudly, nearly echoing in the quiet church. "I-I'm sorry, I don't remember the last time I ate."

Tifa smirked, standing up. "You don't remember much, do you?" She dusted her knees off as he shifted nervously on his feet.

"I guess that's true."

She paused for a moment, thinking about the situation. She wanted to help this poor man, but something about him made her weary. She didn't want to bring him into her home with Marlene and Denzel there, just in case something were to happen. He seemed level enough, but there was something that made her feel like he could break at any moment. He reminded her of Cloud as of late. "Wait here, I'll bring you something from my home, okay?"

He nodded, smiling warmly.

She stopped at the doors and turned around. "Do...I know you...?

"I wouldn't know." The smile still played across his face.

~*~*~

Cloud sat up, panting. It was that same dream again. He rubbed his hands against his face, letting out a frustrated groan. It was getting rather cumbersome for him to have to witness the death of his friend each time he slept, but when he thought about how selfish that sounded, he scolded himself silently in his head. After all, he felt responsible for Zack's death each waking moment, why not as well when he slept? It was only fair.

He was taken a back by his surroundings, and temporarily forgot where he was. It took several moments of gazing around and piecing his thoughts together before he realized he was on Cid's ship, the_ Shera_. He couldn't even recollect how he got there to begin with.

He swung his legs over the side of the bed in which he slept and stood, almost collapsing instantly from weakness in his legs. He realized then that he felt like this all over, when giving it some thought. But despite this, the rest of him, as in, his psyche, felt pretty good. Maybe some sleep was all he needed.

After a moment of gathering himself he strode out of the living quarters and into a long stretch of hallway. He could hear the old pilot's voice, cursing a four letter word from a nearby area. Cloud poked his head in through a doorway, but Cid was no where to be found. He tried another room, but same outcome.

Cloud noticed a haze of cigarette smoke emitting from a room farther down, and followed it, wondering why he didn't look for such a clue to begin with.

Cid looked up from the Fenrir as he heard Cloud enter the room. "Hey!" He dusted off his hands and stood walking over to Cloud with a grin on his face. "Sleep good?"

"How long was I asleep for?"

Cid laughed, throwing his head back. "Wanna take a guess?"

"You sure like to play games with people."

"Now is that anyway to talk to the man who fixed yer baby?" He motioned down to the Fenrir, who even sported a few new paint patches. "Even buffed out some of the scratches for ya!"

Cloud actually smiled a very faint smile. "Thanks."

Cid slapped him on the shoulder. "Hey, yer welcome! Glad to help!" He flicked his cigarette ash off to the side. "And the answer was 'two days'."

"T-two days?" Cloud sputtered, in shock.

"Yeah! Are ya really that surprised, kid?!" He brought the cigarette to his mouth and took a drag. "Ya fell asleep right in the middle of our conversation. I had to drag yer dumb-ass to a bed before ya fell out of the chair. Ya only got up to take a piss! Had to steer ya in the right direction of the goddamn bathroom before ya pissed in my hallway. Pretty #$%in' gone."

Cloud seemed very embarrassed by this and Cid could almost make out a faint red tint to his skin. "Y-yeah I guess I was."

Cid blew cigarette smoke in Cloud's face. "Numbskull."

Cloud waved a hand in front of his face, frowning at the old pilot. "So was I right? Was it the throttle cable?"

"Yup!" Cid moved over to the right side of the bike, motioning to the hand throttle. "It frayed in several places, but finally snapped up toward the actual handle. I replaced the clutch cables too. Those looked rather worn down. She even got an oil change. So what the hell were ya doin' with this pool girl?"

A ringing in Cloud's ear began, but it was slight. "Um..." He shook his head as the ringing became a bit louder. "I uh..."

Cid lifted an eyebrow. "Don't stroke out on me, bud."

He squeezed his eyes shut, the ringing crossing over to his other ear, completely enveloping his senses. "Damn, not now!"

Cid just stood there, watching, dragging on his cigarette as Cloud pressed his hands to his head. If he had popcorn, he'd be eating it.

But he never lost control of his mind. He paused, breathing steady, waiting for his sense to be lost to nothing, but it never came. The ringing, however, still persisted.

"The flowers?" A familiar voice in his head.

"What?" Cloud muttered, straining his hearing through the ringing to catch a conversation.

He heard someone's voice. A male voice. "Are they yours? They're very pretty."

His mind began to race.

"No, not mine. A friend's."

"...Tifa...?"

His mind was teetering on breaking, but he managed to control himself, trying hard to focus on the voice.

"You don't remember much, do you?"

His vision began to turn black. "D-damn..." He felt like he was falling to the ground. He waited for the feeling of the floor to hit his senses, but it never came.

"Hey." A closer voice.

Cloud opened his eyes and looked to Cid who was still standing there, blowing rings of smoke into the air in front of him. Cloud glanced down his body, expecting himself to the be parallel to the floor, but he was standing upright. A personal best.

"Where's my phone?"

"Ya practically stroke out on me and the first thing ya ask me for is yer damn phone!? How 'bout askin' for a potion to cure that crazy head of yers?!"

Cloud ignored him and began searching the Fenrir for his cell phone in a daze. "I need to call Tifa."

He began patting himself down, frantically searching in every pocket he wore for his phone. Finally, he found it, pulling it from a pocket on his waist. It was dead. This time, a four letter expletive from Cloud.

"Colorful." Cid threw out his hand to Cloud and looked at him with a sympathetic look. "Here, dumb-ass. Use mine."

Cloud snatched the phone from Cid's hands, looking at him wearily as the idea of Cid carrying a cell phone confused him.

Cid waved his hand at Cloud, trying to dismiss the look he wore. "Shera gave me the damn thing, okay?? Ya know I hate the things! It's for her piece-o-mind, god dammit." This time it was Cid who was the one with the red face.

Cloud would have smirked at this, if he wasn't so busy dialing the phone number to the new Seventh Heaven.

He paced around as the phone rang in his ear. It rang for a good while. Finally, a voice greeting the caller to the Strife Delivery Service.

"Marlene?" Cloud raised his voice slightly. "Where's Tifa?"

"Cloud!" She sounded completely ecstatic to hear his voice on the other end. "Where are you?? We miss you! Tifa misses you!"

"Tifa, where is Tifa?" He repeated, becoming impatient with the young girl.

"She's not here." She replied, in an almost sing-song voice.

"Where is she?!"

"She-" The phone went dead.

Another four letter word from the blonde man.

Cid peered at him through blue eyes as he stomped out his cigarette on the floor with his boot. "Well?"

"How far are we from Edge?"

"Pretty damn far." Cid replied, pulling out his last cigarette. "Which is unfortunate seeing how I'm outta smokes. I hear ya can get them pretty cheap there."

"Where are we?"

Cid stared at him with a deviant look, his hand across his mouth as he clutched the cigarette between his fingers. He took in a rather long drag.

Cloud ran out of the room.

"H-hey!" Cid followed him down the hall and onto the main flight deck. He watched as Cloud ran up to the huge glass windows and stared out at the surroundings.

The familiar town before him made his heart race, and stomach turn.

He turned around to the old pilot with a bewildered look on his face. "How did you-?"

Cid cut him off, shrugging. "Buddy, I know ya by now, alright? I know yer M.O."

It was too late to head back to Edge now. He had to stay. Cloud turned around and faced the glass windows, swallowing hard, staring at the town of Nibelheim.

~*~*~

She had thought about the strange man the entire thirty minutes it took her to drive back to Edge, make a lunch at the bar, and drive back again to Sector 5 in her sA-37. The truck trudged its way around some debris from the plate above and pulled up to the church, kicking up dust as it stopped. She killed the engine and paused for a minute, her eyes watching the hanging Chocobo ornament the children had made for her, with the help of Cloud, swing across the rear-view mirror. She smiled faintly, remembering the day she received the gift from the children.

She had just bought the truck from a family nearby the bar who had lost their father due to Geostigma. They needed the money from the sale of the truck to bury the man and give him a proper funeral. After scraping together some extra cash from the sales at the Seventh Heaven, and from the delivery service, Tifa managed to purchase the truck. It was bittersweet for her, as it was her first vehicle she owned (that wasn't stolen from Shin-Ra in a high-speed getaway chase across the freeways of Midgar), but it came at a somber price for their neighbors. It meant the family could finally be able to say good-bye to the man. Tifa had given them more Gil than what they asked for.

But the ornament was given to her to celebrate her new vehicle one night after a hearty dinner. Cloud and the two children sat at one of the tables in the bar, rather secretively, as Tifa cleaned up the kitchen. They huddled together, with Marlene's voice demanding at Cloud to stop hogging the project for himself. Denzel would defend Cloud against Marlene, claiming that he was only helping with the hard parts.

Several times Tifa would cross over to them, trying to sneak in a peak at what they were being so discreet about. The three would look up and Cloud would suddenly shout out military sounding orders to the children as they jumped up to chase Tifa away. "Don't let the enemy breach our defense!" He would shout, or "Attack, my little Summons!" And then they would pounce on her, tickling her. She'd try to feebly fight them off, laughing more than she had ever laughed in a long time. Children would be children after all, but she knew that it was Cloud who was really enjoying the moment. Her eyes glanced up at him during the onslaught of tickling, and she could see him through tears of laughter in her eyes that he actually looked...delighted. Tears of laughter soon turned to tears of joy, but the children couldn't tell the difference.

So after Marlene spilled the yellow paint all over the bar table, after Denzel knocked over and shattered a drinking glass on the floor, and after a few yelps from Cloud after burning himself on the soldering iron, the three emerged to Tifa offering up a small metal figurine of a relatively featureless Chocobo. It was one of the cutest things she had ever seen and her heart swelled with excitement as she took the gift from the three, looking at them with loving eyes. She thanked them profusely, hugging the children and giving them kisses on their cheeks. She stood, pulling herself away from the children and her eyes met Cloud. She took a step over to him, and felt the children become quiet with anticipation.

The children may have been naive at times, but they weren't stupid. They knew the feelings she had for him, and often hoped that someday something would happen between the two that would seal the deal in them becoming a true family.

Cloud looked at her nervously as she took a step closer. She could see his eyes darting back and forth on her, trying to read into her mind to see where she was headed. He leaned back as she leaned forward. She thanked him in a low, almost whispering voice, her hands reaching up to embrace him. But he stopped her, cutting her off in an awkward movement, bringing his hands up between them. He was holding something, other than the terrified look his eyes. It was a small metal chain. "H-here!" He stuttered out, the skin on his face turning slightly red. "To hang it in your truck." Her shoulders fell, disappointed that she couldn't connect with him at that moment, but happy all at the same time just to share a moment like this with him and the children. She then thanked him with a simple 'thanks' and a sly smile and turned back to continue showering the children in hugs and kisses.

And she remembered glancing back at Cloud who stood there, looking as if he regretted having ruined the moment that could have been.

Her mind was brought back to the present then, as she tapped the swinging Chocobo softly causing it to sway even more. She looked over to the church doors which were slightly ajar and she wondered about the man who was inside.

She couldn't wrap her mind around him. There was something about him that made her stomach curl into a knot, dusting up memories from long ago. She had always been bad with faces as she hadn't even recognized Cloud at first when she found him wandering the streets of Midgar.

He had grown significantly since she had seen him last at age thirteen when he left to become SOLDIER. Even though he had forced his way into a lot of fights when he was younger with the other children of Nibelheim he was still scrawny and lanky. But years later after the incident in Nibelheim, she found him still just as thin, but now muscle had enveloped his body and made him seem so strong, so different. He wasn't the Cloud she knew from their town as a child. From his lonely, dejected demeanor, he was now brimming with confidence, almost arrogance as he wielded that Buster Sword, and adorned the trademark SOLDIER uniform.

She found him standing at the train station in Sector 7, staring up at the locomotive in an almost delirious manner. She approached him from behind slowly, recognizing that blonde, spiky hair, in disbelief. She reached out and touched his shoulder meekly, unsure if this was really Cloud or not, and when he turned around, she was staring into a pair of eyes that were so familiar, yet foreign.

She apologized for bothering him, her mind racing with doubt that this could have been him. After knowing him for so long, she was still uncertain as his whole aura had changed. But when he said her name and smiled, she knew it was him.

They had spent some time getting to know each other once again back in the original Seventh Heaven, but anytime she would ask him what happened after the incident in Nibelheim, his eyes became lost, staring into nothing. He seemed to be straining his memory for something that should have been so apparent and so vivid to him.

And when she asked him when, after the incident, did he join SOLDIER, he just laughed at her, asking if her memory was okay. He had always been in SOLDIER, he declared. How could she have forgotten such a thing?

This was when Tifa realized that Cloud was no longer Cloud.

~*~*~

"Oh...my God." Tifa slapped a hand over her mouth, her shoulders shrinking inward towards her body. She began quivering, her breath being exhaled from her lungs in short spurts. Her mind was ransacking her entire being with screams of emotions and turmoil. She sat there for what seemed like an eternity, trembling so hard that the truck shook and caused the Chocobo ornament to swing wildly. Her hand slid from her face and grasped the door handle, pulling back on it reluctantly.

She stepped onto the road below and she exited the truck. She tried to swallow, but the muscles in her throat failed to work. Her legs, however seemed to have a mind of their own as they carried her over to the church entrance. She walked in a daze, everything around her seeming to flutter in her vision like an old movie on a reel. Her hearing ceased to exist and the feeling in her entire body became void with each step. She fought back the hand that reached up to push the church doors open wide, but failed in that battle as the wooden doors creaked open slowly.

Sliding into the church quietly, her eyes fell upon the center of the building. The bright light that was above was now shifting in the sky, causing the beams of the shambled ceiling to cast shadows that stretched across the floor. And the flowers swayed gently in the breeze that danced through the church.

The man was gone.

Tifa dropped to her knees finally, when all the strength was pulled from her body at the sight before her.

And his Buster Sword was gone as well.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

...To be continued in Chapter Three: Pulse

Ending Author's Note: Hello again! Thank you for reading!! ^_^ Glad to see that people are enjoying it so far! The next chapter will be uploaded on Friday, July 24th! It's gonna have a bit of action in it! Whoo! Anyway, I'm off to see _Distant Worlds: music from FINAL FANTASY_ with the San Francisco Symphony right now!!! Yes! That IS CORRECT! Nobuo Uematsu is gonna be there too!!!! I'M SO EXCITED!!! I wonder if people are gonna try and cosplay there...? I wanna get my paws on a hawt Cloud cosplayer....O_O


	3. Chapter Three: Pulse

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Chapter Three: Pulse

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The Shin-Ra mansion was dark and dusty as usual. It was revered as the proverbial haunted house that plagued the children's nightmares of the town in the past, but now was nothing more than a passing memory to Cloud. Albeit a horrifying-four-year-torture-memory, but still, a memory nonetheless and those were too few and far between for him.

He and Cid stepped into the mansion with the front doors creaking in a way that would make any B Movie seem a little less comical at the moment as the sound caused Cloud to shiver. The blurred memory of Zack busting through those doors with Cloud in his arms played through his mind, and he found himself gazing around, but not actually looking at anything.

Cid looked to his friend and frowned. "This place gives me the willies. Where's the goddamned room service?"

He ignored him and walked to the middle of the room, his eyes trailing up the large staircase. The setting sun outside was behind the large decorative windows on the third level and illuminated the playful dust that was picked up from the air current of the two people who entered.

Cloud began to ascend the staircase on the right, his hand sliding up the banister as he walked. With each footstep summoned an angry creaking noise from the old wood steps, which made Cid make a disgruntled noise as a rebuttal, as he followed in tow. The two rounded the corner and Cloud went straight for the room that housed the stone staircase to the basement laboratory.

"Cloud," Cid stopped him as he reached to push the stone door to the side, "are ya sure ya wanna do this? I mean, we ain't even sure if we'll find anythin' 'bout this 'Project Z' or not..."

He didn't turn to face him. He didn't want Cid to see the unsettled look he wore on his face. He spoke calmly however, yet Cid picked up a hint of tremor in his voice that only a seasoned friend would hear. "It doesn't matter what happened here, it's in the past now. I can't let it change my future anymore."

"Welp, okay, if ya say so bud. I just," Cid rubbed the back of his neck, "I dun wanna see ya...I dunno." His voice trailed off, as he was never really graceful at the delicate stuff. He was a toughened old bird on the outside, but had a huge heart for his friends, and especially Cloud. He felt a certain affinity towards him that could only be described as a Father/Son type of emotion, but wondered if Cloud could even realize this.

Cloud turned around then, lifting an eyebrow at the old pilot. "What're you trying to say, Cid?"

He was embarrassed, flustered, hampered and shy all at the same time. He turned his attention on the cigarette that was hanging in his mouth. "All I'm saying is dun get all crazy nostalgic on me, alright? These shoulders ain't strong 'nuff to carry the kinda grief ya have, all around for ya."

"Don't worry," Cloud smirked and turned back to the face the stone door. "I'll try and keep sane."

He was unsure if Cloud meant that to reassure Cid, or himself.

~*~*~

The First Sword peeled its way through the shoulder of the Yang, while the Venus Gospel impaled the Ying in the neck in perfect unison. The creature sucked in an eerie cry before dropping to the ground, writhing in agony as it died.

"Creepy-ass...mother fu..." Cid muttered to himself, brushing off a bit of dirt he sustained from being knocked down by the strange creature in the basement of the mansion. "Only in the Shin-Ra mansion will you find a mutated freak like this."

"Hey, thanks. That means a lot to me." Cloud responded, sheathing the First Sword into the holster on his back.

Cid sputtered, babbling as he realized what he had just spit out to the blonde. "T-that's not what I meant, goddammit!"

"And I'm sure Vincent would appreciate that as well." Cloud smirked faintly at the old pilot who stood there, sucking on a cigarette quickly, trying to redeem himself from this embarrassment.

"Shaddup, and let's go!" He stomped passed the blonde, muttering to himself as he threw his spear up onto his shoulder.

Cloud followed, as they finally found themselves in the laboratory of the basement.

Cid walked in first, glancing around in a silent awe. His eyes scanned all of the books that were nestled in the wooden bookcases through the hallway that led into the study. "Someone sure likes to read."

Cloud stood in the entrance, trying to push down the strong sense of panic that washed over him. He managed to ignore it after Cid glanced back at him and shot Cloud a kind grin.

Cloud walked over to the metal table then, that sat in the center of the room. His hand brushing along the top as he walked around it, his eyes staring into the large tube chambers that stood in front of him, calling out to his memory.

"So this is it, eh?" Cid noticed what he was staring at and walked up to them, peering inside. "Empty." Cid looked to the one on his left. It had fingernail markings embedded into the glass. "Looks like it's been used recently."

Cloud walked over, standing next to the pilot, leaning against the tube to get a better look. His eyes flickered to the back of the chamber where there was more writing that had been carved into the surface. "How do you open this thing?" He looked up, glancing around at the various buttons that were above. After a few guesses, the hatch to the chamber hissed open slowly.

Cid leaned in close, squinting his eyes to try and make out what was written. "The hell does that say? My eyes must be gettin' bad." He peered over to the blonde next to him, who was staring at something elsewhere.

Cloud's eyes fell down to the floor, where a large pool of Mako had dried and crystallized to the stone along the base of the chamber. The trail of dried Mako led its way around the table, toward the study. It faded away as it became closer to the hallway. And there was dried blood everywhere, splattered against the floor and the equipment around. He managed to tear his gaze away and poked his head into the chamber then, searching around. His eyes came upon a few strands of silver hair.

"Hey kid, are you comin' or not?" Cid's voice was distant and Cloud turned to see that the pilot had found his way into the study as he was already pulling books and files from the bookcase. He sure got to work quick. "I dun got all day to play librarian, ya know!"

"Y-yeah." He stood, giving one more glance to the silver strands of hair and went to join Cid.

~*~*~

"H-hey....a-are....are ya still.....alive...over there?" Cid lifted his head from a pile of books which he had been previously using as a pillow. A few pages stuck to his face and he peeled them off in a daze.

Time had ceased to exist as they had been holed up in the basement of the Shin-Ra mansion for...well, they weren't entirely sure how long they had been down there for. A lack of windows and any sort of medium to tell time brought a sense of disillusion to the two men who now were wearing dark circles under their eyes as a badges of honor.

Cloud muttered something that Cid couldn't quite understand, partially because his face was buried into a stack of papers on the desk, and partially because it probably wasn't anything coherent anyhow.

The old pilot managed to scrape himself off of the cold floor, several bones in his body cracking as he straightened. He cursed to himself over the discomfort of the noise his body emitted and stepped over a few stacks of books as he made his way over to his blonde friend. He could hear Cloud's soft snoring against his makeshift paper-pillow and Cid peered down at the writings in which the "pillow" had.

He rubbed his eyes once. "Hey..."

He rubbed his eyes twice. "HEY."

"CLOUD."

Cloud's head shot up then, intaking a small gasp into his lungs. He slurred something inaudible to himself as his eyes looked around, confused. Finally, actual words. "Whattimeisit?" Well, four words mushed into one was at least a start.

"Look." Cid pointed down at a file that peeked out from the stack as if it were a shy child trying to get attention from a group of adults who wanted nothing to do with the kid. "It's got that guy's name."

After a moment of gathering his senses, a yawn, and vigorous rubbing of his eyes, Cloud ruffled through the stack and found the page that Cid was referring to. He slapped it on top of everything else. He skimmed through the file quickly, then began to read aloud after one more yawn. "'September 20th, 0002: Professor Hait and I have been ordered to temporarily leave the laboratory on short notice, due to the arrival of Sephiroth in two days time. Sephiroth has been ordered to investigate a malfunction in the Mako Reactor at Mt. Nibel, and President Shinra felt it in our best interest that we keep our distance from Sephiroth. All equipment and test subjects will be shipped to Midgar shortly via airship.'"

"'October 1st, 0002: We have received word of the incident caused by Sephiroth in Nibelheim. Professor Hait and I are now thankful that the President had us relocate to the Shin-Ra building in Midgar for our experiments. We are confined here for the time being, as Professor Hojo has reclaimed the laboratory at the Shin-Ra mansion for his own experiments on several subjects collected from the incident. If these subjects are getting direct interest from Hojo himself, then something incredible must have happened at the Mako Reactor.'" Cloud scoffed to himself after he read that entry, and then continued.

"'October 3rd, 0002: A few more corpse test subjects have arrived from Sephiroth's slaughter in Nibelheim. I'm ashamed to admit that today was the first time I felt remorse and regret in participating in some of the experiments I have assisted in with Professor Hait. I realized this after receiving one particular test subject. The subject was a blonde woman who perished due to severe burns and asphyxiation from smoke inhalation of the fire caused by Sephiroth. I had begun to clean her stiffened body in preparation for experimentation, when I noticed the subject had been clutching onto something during her death. Upon prying the subject's fingers open, I found that the subject had been holding onto a picture of a young blonde boy, possibly her son or young relative. She had been grasping onto the picture so hard that the heat from the fire caused the picture to melt and meld with the skin on her hands. I almost felt for this woman, but had to reassure...myself that...she was only a...test subject...to be able to...continue...our resear...'"

Cloud's voice trailed off. His hands began to shake uncontrollably and caused the paper in his hand to rustle throughout the room. He sucked in a breath that Cid almost thought was a sob, but he wasn't sure.

"Kid?" Cid walked over to him and placed a hand on the blonde's trembling shoulder. "Ya alright?"

Cloud forced himself to stop trembling and remained silent for a long several minutes. His head was aimed down at the desk and his hair fell into his eyes. Cid watched to see if he might have possibly been crying as he just stood there, his hand never moving from the blonde's shoulder.

"Hey kid, we can stop if ya want." Cid's voice finally came out soft and kind, and even he was surprised by how he sounded. "If ya want, go wait in the_ Shera_ and I can do more research for ya, if ya need me to. Maybe get some rest."

Cloud suddenly shifted through several more papers, resuming his search as if nothing had happened. Cid removed his hand reluctantly, confused over the sudden behavioral change in his friend. He shrugged to himself and passed it off as Cloud's typical way to cope with things.

The blonde continued to read and at first, his voice was wavering, but after a few words it leveled out. "'November 15th, 0002: I regret to announce that one of our leading subjects has rejected the Summon Materia implanted into its body. The human corpse had begun to degenerate significantly when the Summon Ramuh was surgically implanted into the heart, and at this point we are unsure of what the underlying factor to the failure was.'" He let out a quivering breath after he was done with that entry.

Cid frowned sympathetically, but didn't say anything. He just let him continue reading passively.

"'November 25th, 0002: After several more attempts with different Summons, the President has determined that our research must be put on hold, due to the research funding going towards Professor Hojo's experiments in Nibelheim. Professor Hait displeased with the decision, offered forth to the Development Council the proposal of funding the research with his own money, but was denied after a brief deliberation. At this point, we're not sure if we'll be able to continue Hojo's original experiment of bringing the dead back to life.'"

He stopped reading, sifting through several more folders. "Let's look for more."

Cid glanced around the stack he had been searching through the night before. After a few moments of silent searching from the two men, Cloud began to read again from a file that was stuffed under a very large stack. "There seems to be a time line gap between the research notes. This one is dated five years later."

"'September 26th, 0007: The new test subject has been brought into the lab via the Turks by order of the President. The Turks are just a bunch of mindless meat-heads who lack the appreciation for the work of art Professor Hait is about to create. They claimed that the corpse subject was beyond any attempts of saving, but what do they know? A few bullet holes and total loss of blood to the subject won't deter the Professor from performing this test. Not after some of the breakthroughs we've experienced.'"

"'October 1st, 0007: The Professor had me release the corpse from the Mako Chamber so I could remove the bullets that were embedded into the subject's body. I successfully removed forty-two rounds of ammunition from the body. After sustaining this amount of damage and looking at this objectively, I will admit my doubts of the outcome with this particular test subject. I am impressed with the eye witness accounts of the subject's final moments however, as injuries like this would have surely caused anyone less of strength and will to fall sooner.'"

"'October 13th, 0007: After a blood transfusion, Professor Hait has finally injected the corpse with a sample of JENOVA cells we managed to pilfer from some remnants of test tubes that Hojo had left from his previous experiments...'" Cloud's voice trailed off once more, and he began flipping through several pages, which were now out of order due to too much reading and not enough patience on his part in keeping things orderly.

He continued, stopping at another page. "'November 17th, 0007: The corpse has begun to respond to the injections to our delight. The new device Professor Hait has constructed has proved to be quite useful in determining the strength of the corpse's own Lifestream current. Further tests will be required to see if the human host will be strong enough to connect with the Summon Materia at a later date.'"

Cid ran a hand through his blonde hair, letting out a very slow breath. "What...the hell." He slipped the paper out of Cloud's hands and brought it to his eyes, reading it as if Cloud had been fabricating the entire speech. "Is this shit for real?" Cid's eyes scanned the paper and continued reading aloud where Cloud had left off.

"'January 13th, 0008: The corpse is becoming less and less a corpse each day. With a new supply of JENOVA cells from the President, and the Mako reserve Hojo has shipped in as a courtesy, our little 'friend', whom I have nicknamed 'Z', seems to be more animate each day. His heart has yet to begin beating again, but the Lifestream current in his body has been flowing very steadily now, and soon Professor Hait will implant the Summon, which has yet to be determined. However, I've finally come up with a name for the Lifestream reader, but Professor Hait hates it. How is 'Strea-om-meter' such a bad name?'"

"'March 23rd, 0008: Success! A pulse! It's extremely weak, and at first the Professor and I were unsure if we had really heard it. But after an electric shock to the subject's chest confirmed our suspicions by producing a stronger heartbeat, we were practically in tears of joy! I think it would have been an opportune moment to ask the Professor out on that date, but I didn't want to spoil the celebration. We had decided to refer to this research from here-on-out as 'Project Z' and that was better than any date would've been for him."

"The hell are these jack-asses smokin'!?" Cid tossed down the file angrily. "This shit is the occult, I'm tellin' ya! Messin' with shit they shouldn't be messin' with!"

Cloud just watched him as the man paced back and forth, ranting with a thunderous voice, his hand flying up to the goggles he wore around his forehead. He patted around searching for that familiar square box, and spat out a four letter word when his search turned up nothing. "I forgot I'm outta smokes!" He kicked a few books off a stack that was in front of him, causing them to fly across the room. The vein in his temple became more prominent as his nicotine craving probed at his nerves relentlessly. He stopped, his shoulders bobbing up and down with each anxious breath. "I need a goddamn cigarette."

It was witnessing Cid's ranting then that made Cloud thankful that he had never picked up a smoking habit when he was younger and in Shin-Ra. He had enough trouble with Sephiroth controlling his actions already, he didn't need his behavior controlled by something so meaningless like a cigarette craving. But he wasn't about to divulge Cid in this thought as the man continued to storm throughout the room, muttering angrily to himself and the walls around them.

"Wait here, kid. I'm gonna head back up to the outside world and see if any of these bastards sell cigarettes at the shops. Want anythin'?"

Cloud shook his head, declining.

"So yeah, I'll ignore that, and I'll bring ya back somethin' to eat, alright? Hang tight." Cid kicked around a few stacks of books, unveiling his Venus Gospel, having been smothered beneath the mess of printed literature. The sound of Cid's footsteps faded as he exited the laboratory.

Running his hands down his face, Cloud let out a short, heavy sigh. He stood from the chair he sat in slowly, the muscles in his body resisting movement. They had been down there for too long and Cloud started to feel claustrophobic in the dark laboratory. He could feel his heart beating in his chest as he glanced down to the file with the October 3rd entry in it. Flashes of his past crossed over his mind at that moment and he shook his head as if he were trying to shake away his memories.

Doing this was a fruitless effort as no amount of head-shaking would tear his consciousness away from his past at that moment. A sharp ringing noise coursed through his head quickly and a blue image of the man lying on the cliff outside of Midgar flashed across his vision.

A hand went to his forehead, wincing as another image assaulted his mind. His vision was against the man's chest, the blood soaking into his skin. He could smell the rain in his senses.

Another sharp screech in his ears.

More images.

Red.

_...His blood..._

Sharp.

_...His sword..._

Blue.

_...His smile..._

Black.

_...His death..._

Cloud felt his body fall against something cold and hard.

_...His voice..._

_"You're the evidence...that I..."_

"'Live'." Cloud read the word in a whisper with nothing less than an astounded look on his face. He found himself suddenly inside the Mako Chamber, on his knees, his head pressing up against the back wall of the metal prison. There it was, etched deep into the metal, and into his mind. He was perspiring, his body feeling as if it were ignoring all sensations that the nerves in his brain were ordering out to him. The word swarmed inside of him, repeating over and over. He had a hard time hearing anything as it became stronger. He closed his eyes, trying to control the ragged breathing he was emitting from his chest, trying to hang onto his ever slipping sanity.

After a few moments of composing himself, he managed to stand. The room suddenly began to spin, or maybe it was his head, he couldn't tell. All he knew was that he felt like vomiting at this moment. He stepped out of the chamber, his hand covering his mouth, the urge to retch surfacing.

"You okay, Cloud?" It was _his_ voice.

Cloud gasped, looking up, his eyes wildly scanning the room around him. His mind finally focused on the dark-haired man standing in front of him. "Za-"

~*~*~

The beating sound of the helicopter cut through the air, pounding against the stillness of the plains around Kalm. The shadow of the bird contorted and wavered against the terrain below like a shape-shifter as it flew with grace, searching diligently for its target.

An itchy finger caressed the firing trigger on the cyclic stick.

"We have orders to pursue the target, but not to forcefully engage. Get your finger off that trigger."

Reno let out a frustrated and rather loud groan of detest. "Yeah, yeah. I jus' wanted ta see some fireworks, yo." He forced the muscles in his finger to relax as he lowered his hand down an inch.

"If you disobey direct orders from the President, then you'll see some fireworks alright."

Reno shifted in the pilot's seat, glancing over at the stoic Turk next to him. It wasn't the familiar stoicalness that his usual partner Rude carried with him that Reno was so accustomed to. This was on a whole different level of imperturbable arrogance that really dug into Reno's patience. "Yer such a buzz-kill, Tseng."

Tseng kept his trained eye on the earth below, watching and waiting for any signs of suspicious life. "Harm the subject and I will see to it that you won't have any buzzes left for me to kill, understood?"

The red-head Turk swallowed hard, but forced a laugh as if he were just passing that remark off as hot air. "Yeah, yeah. I hear ya boss." He rolled the helicopter to the right, beginning to circle back around the sleepy town. His eyes were glancing between the attitude indicator and the scenery below. "I dun think this guy is around here, yo."

"Just fly the bird and let me do the looking." Tseng lifted forward in his seat peering down at something about a half mile from the town, south east. "There."

"Got it." Reno squeezed the cyclic stick and pushed the helicopter in forward flight toward the location in question. They remained quiet, partially from nerves and partially because they never really had much to say to each other to begin with. It was Reno usually doing most of the talking in situations like this, and Tseng just was his usual composed self, only speaking to bark out orders to the lazy Turk when needed. And Tseng, despite the calmed aura he held around him at this moment, did seem slightly disturbed over this assignment.

Reno however, had not been fully informed to what this exact assignment was. All he knew at this point was that they were searching for someone, and that his finger begged to release some missiles.

It took them longer to reach the location than they thought, and soon they realized that their assignment was on the run. The figure was moving at an incredible speed, and upon further inspection, and closer range, they realized that their target was on a Hardy Daytona.

"Awaitin' orders, boss."

"Follow."

"Yep!" Displacing the cyclic stick forward, Reno pitched the nose of the bird and increased speed to keep in steady tow of their subject. Reno began to gradually decrease altitude to get a better view of who they were pursuing.

His vision, however, was soon engulfed in orange.

"Shit!" Reno reached one hand down to the collective lever, while simultaneously pitching the nose to lift the helicopter, narrowly dodging the unexpected ball of Firaga that was cast their way.

"Looks like you got your fireworks after all." Tseng's voice was unusually lighthearted and Reno shot him a dubious look, but couldn't shoot it for long as he had to maneuver the bird yet again. He could feel the heat of the fire being thrown past.

"Awaitin' orders, boss!!!"

Tseng had always been quick to think on his feet, strong, and decisive. No matter how pressing the situation was, he always led the Turks with unwavering efficiency and poise. Each decision he made always resulted in a favorable outcome that would have taken even a tactful genius an hour to strategize. But Tseng could process such resolve in an unfathomable instant with grace.

Tseng however, was not given this instant as the target below casted another roaring inferno towards them.

Reno attempted to roll the helicopter again to the right. A violent shudder coursed through the cockpit and the bird began to yaw on its own. Reno could feel a trembling in the anti-torque pedal under his foot and instantly he knew. "Tail rotor's been hit!" And as if on cue, the helicopter began to twist wildly in the air, the sound of the engines straining under the sudden change in flight.

"Keep her steady as long as you can," Tseng barked out, "and if you get a good shot, take it, but aim to stop the target, not kill."

"Alright, now we're talkin', yo!" Reno compensated through all of the controls he could possibly get his two hands and feet on, and managed to temporarily steady the bird long enough to aim, and fire.

A second was all it took.

And a second was all they had before the concussion of the explosions around them sent them spiraling out of control toward the unforgiving ground. And a wall of fire was all they saw before the darkness set in.

~*~*~

"You okay?" A different voice this time.

He blinked slowly, as if he were wiping his vision clean with his eyelids. Cid now stood in front of him, biting into an apple with a bewildered look to his face. He chewed the apple skin slowly between his front teeth, letting his eyebrow lift at the blonde.

_He_ was gone.

Cloud was completely and utterly dumbfounded. If he had a million Gil to bet that the man was truly there, standing in front of him, he would have bet it all but one Gil. Then again Cloud was never really the betting type.

"Well? Yer brain workin'?" Cid took another bite out of the apple, the crunch echoing in the basement.

He opened his mouth to respond, but was stopped by a high pitched shrilling noise suddenly emitting from Cid's pants.

Cid was startled and he dropped his apple, cursing loudly. His hand stuffed itself into his pocket, pulling out the source of the annoying squawk. "Yeah!?" He yelled as he bent down to retrieve his snack that had rolled underneath the metal table in the center of the laboratory. "Tifa?" Cid's voice was muffled as his hand felt around for the juicy fruit.

Cloud's heart skipped.

"Eh? Ya have to speak slower darlin'. Pace yer words otherwise I'm hangin' up."

Cloud's heart skipped again.

"What!?" Cid jumped up, but forgot he was on his knees under a table. His head crashed up against the metal surface and he yelped a five letter word that started with a "B".

"N-no, I wasn't callin' ya that! I just...." His voice trailed off as he slowly stood from beneath the table. Along with the strange look he held on his face, he also held up an offering to Cloud in his hand. Instead of the apple, it was a tape recorder. It was covered in dust and blood.

The phone to Cid's ear began to fall slowly as he walked over to Cloud who stood there silently. Cloud could hear Tifa's frantic voice from behind the receiver.

He whispered to the blonde. "She wants to talk to ya." He held up both items in his hands, giving Cloud a choice.

Cloud took the tape recorder without hesitation, and walked swiftly into the study.

The phone was brought back to Cid's ear. "Yeah, Cloud was here. But he left about twenty minutes ago. Said somethin' 'bout gettin' a hair cut or somethin'..." He winced at his poor excuse for an excuse. How he hated lying, and especially to her.

"He said somethin' 'bout his phone bein' dead to-" He was cut off by her voice again. He listened, his mouth opening in shock. "Ya serious? Are ya sure it wasn't just a strange coincidence?"

He leaned into the hallway of the study and glanced in at the blonde who had seated himself in the big chair, poking at the tape recorder with a confused look on his face. He began to tap it against the desk, trying to get the batteries to spit out enough juice to play the tape that was nestled inside. He looked like a child who was trying to get a toy to start working again after realizing that it was broken.

Cid could hear the tape begin to rewind. He hurried the conversation. "Well, darlin', just stay in the bar and dun go back to the church. Wait fer Cloud, he'll be there soon maybe." He snapped the phone closed before she had a chance to respond and he chucked the piece of technology under the table to keep his now dusty apple company.

"Sorry Tifa, dun take it personally. I just hate them phones." He lit a cigarette and jogged into the study as the beginnings of the tape began to play. He hopped up on the edge of the desk and made himself comfortable next to the blonde who was fiddling with the volume. Cloud shot Cid a near worried look.

~*~*~

The sound of crackling flames filled his ears, and the odor of engine fluid and fuel filled his nose, rousing his consciousness away from its unwarranted slumber. Sharp pains in his body flowed through his every movement as he forced his body to lift from the hot ground below, in which he lay.

"T-Tseng..." His voice choked out, his blue eyes opening to the sight of Tseng laying a few feet away to his left, with debris from the wreckage littering across his body. He could see the flames all around. "...Hey." He called out to him.

Tseng responded with a weak groan and he could see that his hand twitched to the ambience around. But not much more of a response came from him.

At least not that Reno could tell any longer, as a sound from behind the flames caught his wavering attention in front of him, where he was now kneeling. He could feel the presence of something, someone behind the fire, and it made his heart begin to race with excitement. It had been a while since he had some action.

His head shot from side to side, searching for something quickly. He frantically overturned large pieces of debris and found his nightstick underneath the shambled pieces of what was the instrument panel at one point. He began to rise to his feet as he extended his weapon out in front of him, adrenaline coursing through his blood. A flash of light cut through the flames and Reno found himself suddenly pinned behind his own weapon, in contact with his target.

Reno let out a startled grunt, being shoved back on his feet, his shoes digging into the burned grass below, his arm bracing his weapon against his attacker. He could feel the heat from the flames against his back, and the power and strength from the person before him. His eyes trailed up, as if in slow motion, on the sword that was forced against his nightstick. He could see the reflection of his face in the smooth metal as his attacker shifted the weapon, trying to push his way through Reno's defense.

Reno blinked in confusion, as his reflection suddenly disappeared, and he was now staring into the face of a familiar stranger. Reno's voice fell from his lips. "Y-you."

The young man let a nefarious grin crawl across his face, his strength beginning to overpower the Turk. He suddenly swooped his sword down behind his body as he squat. He stood quickly, catching the Turk off guard, swinging the large sword in a downward motion to the ground from behind his body. Like a pendulum, the man continued the movement, swinging the sword upwards, trailing along the Turk's staggered frame.

Reno jumped back, watching as the uncomfortably sharp tip of the blade came millimeters away from his nose. He could feel a stinging pain trailing up his chest. Then the familiar feeling of warm liquid run down his skin.

The man swung his large sword back around to his side, the sound of the air being altered from the force between them.

Reno regained his footing, ignoring the blood that seeped out of the shallow wound on his chest. The pain, however was slightly harder to forget. He lunged forward, letting out a strong cry as he brought his nightstick down upon the man, their weapons meeting.

The Turk pulled back shortly, readjusting his grip on the soft padded handle of his weapon. He struck him again, releasing the electric shock of his weapon onto his attacker. The man was stunned long enough for Reno to extended his right leg up, twisting his body to the side slightly as he did this, kicking the man in the chest.

The man let out a startled noise, stumbling back. Reno's eyes caught a wave of electricity crawl up the target's arm and he flicked his limb, trying to shake away the attack. Glowing blue eyes connected with Reno's and he suddenly came at the Turk once more with unbelievable speed.

Reno's eyes strained to see the form of the man coming straight for him. He had little time to prepare for the strike, and even less time to recover from it as he found himself flying through the flames of the wreckage and tumbling onto the grassy plains below.

He was thankful that he rolled across the damp grass as it put out the flames that had hitched a ride on his suit when he flew through the fire.

"Where is he?" A voice was suddenly above him, and Reno found himself being forcefully rolled onto his back to face up at the cloudy sky.

Reno writhed in pain, his eyes slowly opening to the man with silver and black hair. "I-I dun know who yer talkin' 'bout, yo..."

The man opened his mouth and spoke, but his voice was drowned out by the sound of another helicopter in the sky above. Reno could feel the heat of the flames crawling back from his skin as the wind picked up from the beating rotors. He struggled to stay conscious as the form of the man suddenly disappeared from his vision. Again with the darkness.

No matter, Reno always enjoyed his naps.

~*~*~

A man's light voice, came from the recorder then. It was a soft spoken voice that almost was shy sounding, very diminutive. Estimated around being in his mid forties. Conservative and calm. "Date of first contact with subject: July 18th, 0009. After a very lengthy incubation inside the chamber, and after thousands of tests and experiments, the subject has finally grown strong enough to move about in his Mako chamber. We have closely observed the re-animation of this corpse throughout the past few years and I will admit I have grown to almost see it as my kin. My heart swells with pride as I watch the once lifeless face of the subject move again."

"And I also have to admit, giving the subject, Z, time to recover from the implanting of the Summon Ifrit has proven to be a daunting task. I have grown impatient with the subject's slow healing process so I decided to inject Z with a mixture of pure Mako and pure JENOVA cells straight into the subject's heart, right below the surgical implant. This has proven to speed the recovery rate, and I feel that Z is finally ready for a test drive." A calm, almost soothing voice suddenly turned spine tingling as a familiar snicker came from the man. It sounded, to Cloud and Cid's disgust, to be a lot like Hojo's infamous cackle.

The sound of rustling was heard from the tape and suddenly the man's voice was a bit distant. The recorder had been set down. "Release him."

The sound of a Mako chamber door opening was heard.

"Do you know your name?" The Hojo-laugh-sounding person asked.

A familiar, young male voice responded slowly, deliriously. "...No."

A female voice now. It was younger sounding than the first male who spoke, about late thirties. "Do you know where you are?"

"...Yes..."

She spoke again, gently. "Where are you?"

"...Where...."

The older male urged him on, repeating the previous question. The sound of shuffling was then heard as the young male's voice made a noise of surprise.

"Whoa! Careful!"

"Eden, don't let him fall!"

The female was heard grunting uncomfortably, her voice muffled against something. "I-I know Professor, I'm trying! He's heavy!"

"...Where's..." The young male repeated.

The female let out another noise, but this time more of a pained yelp. "Professor Hait, he's hurting me...!" She emitted another yell, louder. "O-ow!"

The young male's voice was harsher this time, gaining strength. "Where's..."

The older man's voice began to become slightly panicked sounding as more shuffling was heard. "Where's what? Tell me what you know, okay? I need you to respond to me! Stay focused!!"

The woman was heard screaming then. "Professor! Please! Help me!" Her frenzied voice was suddenly cut short by the sound of her head cracking against the stone floor below. The revolting sound of blood spraying against the surroundings, and the sound of her throat emitting a gurgling noise was heard. Then she was silent.

"S-shit!" The man exclaimed as his voice was heard becoming farther from the tape recorder. "W-what the hell did you just do?! I-I order you to stop at once!" The sound of several glass objects shattering against the floor was heard.

"Where's..!"

The older man was shrieking now, hysterically, and it was so loud against the tape that it caused the actual recorder to vibrate. "D-don't come near me! I will see to it that you'll go back to the Lifestream again...! I-is that what you want!?" The sound of skin striking skin was heard along with the older man's screeching. "G-get away!" The sound of books tumbling from the shelves absorbed the horrid noise of the man being struck again.

The young voice was yelling now, with nothing short of a rabid delirium. "Where's Cloud!?"

All sound ceased. The play button on the recorder shot up with a click and the tape stopped running.

The blood in Cloud's body had stopped running as well.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

...To be continued in Chapter Four: Fray.

Ending Author's Note: Thank you for reading! Please review! I have my own fears of this so far, and I need to know if where I'm heading seems okay. Is the story progressing too slowly? Is my writing redundant? Everyone in character? Cloud too wimpy? Heehee, too bad with that last one, he's gonna be that way for a while...well, maybe. The fight scene between Reno and the mysterious man was the first fight scene I've ever written, so I hope I did well in describing the movements. It was short, but don't worry, there's another one coming up in the next chapter. But hang tight, that won't be until July 31st! And for all the fan girls, Chapter Five is in the works and it's got GASP! Crisis Core Cloud in it with all his meek, sheepish uke-like glory! Hurray! Anyway, much loves and thanks for readin'!


	4. Chapter Four: Fray

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Chapter Four: Fray

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A light.

Light was good. And it was warm too. He liked warm.

But pain.

Pain was not good.

Blue eyes opened to a blurry scene around him, the figures of several people standing over him. "Shit," his voice croaked out, "is this the damn Lifestream?"

A female voice muttered his name, scoffing in disbelief. "Oh please. He thinks he's dead."

Another voice, a low, dry one. "Wake up or the President will fire you."

Reno rolled over in the bed he slept in, pulling the covers over his head. "Dun say the word 'fire', yo."

The President's voice. "I can't fire him. He needs to work for me for a long time to repay me for the damages of the helicopter. With no paid overtime."

Reno shot up in bed. "I'm up, yo!!!" He winced at the stinging pain against his chest and immediately regretted having moved so abruptly. "Damn, I thought it was all a dream." He ruffled his continuously messy hair and somehow made it worse, if that was even possible. His mind pieced some of his surroundings together and realized he was in the lodge in Healen. He then glanced around at everyone and noticed Tseng was missing.

"Tseng!"

Rude spoke before Reno could act irrationally, a rather usual quirk of the red-head's. "He's fine. He's out investigating the incident."

"That's good, yo." Reno let his body sink back down to the bed slowly. How his body longed to be enveloped by the plush beneath him. He was tired, sore, hungry, and many other things that all the while made the tempting ideal of sleeping again strike a weary chord in his brain. His body began to tug down. And he was almost upon the soft, pillowy bed, his muscles almost relaxing against his own person heaven. Almost.

Rufus' voice stopped Reno from laying back down. "If you can sit up in bed, then you can work. Now get up."

Reno let out a whine as if he were a frustrated child who was just told to take the garbage out against his will. "Awww man...!" He frantically kicked the blankets off of his body and they flew across the room. He scrambled up to his feet. "This blows!"

Rufus chuckled at his Turk silently, but he kept his firm voice as he spoke to him then. "Give me a full report."

Reno's eyes were cast down, a solemn look on his face suddenly.

He could see Reno's throat move as he swallowed nervously. He then bit his bottom lip, wearing not much color in his face. The Turk turned his head slowly and his eyes met that of the President's in a daze. "The rumors are true, yo."

Elena spoke, her hand going to the lapel on her suit. She gripped it in anticipation. "What do you mean, Reno?"

Rufus cringed slightly at this, albeit he wasn't too surprised by Reno's statement, already knowing that Project Z could have been possibly real. It still came as a small shock just piecing together everything in his mind as Reno revealed the details of the incident of their assignment.

"It was _him_." He said, after each detail was laid out for the President.

Elena's eyes were wide with what could have been horror, or just utter denial, no one could tell at this point. It was probably the same look that everyone in the room shared, save Rude. He was his usual.

The room was silent until Elena spoke. "What does this mean, then?"

Reno let out an amused laugh, shaking his head. His red hair swayed in front of his face gently as he spoke. "It means Mr. ex-SOLDIER is gonna be soooo pissed at Shin-Ra again."

~*~*~

The only sound he could hear was his own heart beating. His shoulders were rising and falling in time with his breathing, but no breath escaped his lungs.

The air around him was void.

He was waiting for her in his dream.

And he waited, and waited.

His lack of surroundings were glowing white, it was almost blinding. But the blonde looked around with brooding eyes, lips slightly parted as if he were to speak to the dream around him.

He shifted on his feet, even though there was no ground to put any of his weight on and even though he felt as if he had no weight at all either, in his body. He was just simply existing in this motionless dream. Time was moving at a standstill, and he could actually feel himself aging with each second that didn't pass by.

"Where are you?" He yelled aloud, his voice echoing in his own mind. He began to run, but his legs ceased to work.

He called out to her again, but his mouth failed to move.

His muscles ignored any command to function with him willingly. It was more than maddening, and the frustration began to build in his mind.

All he could do was stare into the blank before him, unblinking, unfaltering. He resisted the urge to close his eyes for even a single moment, in fear of missing her presence around him if she were to return. It was painfully quiet.

_Please, I need to see you. _ The blonde pleaded in his mind, his fist clenching down at his sides, but he couldn't feel his hands. His whole body slipped into numb.

_Where did you go? You're always here for me..._

She had become more of a reliable source for strength and comfort than his own mind could have ever been at any point in his life, past, present, or future. The gentle will she radiated from her soul seeped into his being, crawling across the fraying fibers of his spirit, linking to the ones that were weak. She mended them together to make him whole again. Her benign smile was all that it took to heal the pain in the entity that was his survival.

And whenever his heart was in torment, she would always come and save him from shattering.

The sound of his beating heart had stopped. He could hear nothing. He could see nothing. His eyes squeezed shut in the panic that welled up inside.

_Aerith, come and save me...!_

And he waited, and waited.

Cloud was left alone in the white, to fray.

~*~*~

The door to the Seventh Heaven opened slowly, and a wary shoulder slipped inside, followed by the rest of the Turk. Tseng entered, his eyes skimming over the heads of its patrons who were drowning themselves in alcohol and slurred speech with nothing more than a false sense of ease in which the liquor created.

He noticed two young children at the end of the bar amongst the adult crowd who were seated on the large barstools, their little legs kicking a good foot and a half above the floor. They were talking to each other quietly while scribbling on paper with crayons. The young girl was bickering with the young boy about which color blue would work best for whatever she was drawing.

Several heads turned as Tseng slid past the tables of lushes, peering up at him with eyes of uncertainty and some with qualm. Donning the pronounced uniform of the Turks sometimes caused a rift between their organization and the rest of the world, even after Shin-Ra denounced its chase in Mako extraction. Representing a company that previously aided in the utter downfall of the Planet sometimes came with its hazards from the spiteful civilian life. But the occasional citizen who declared to be avenging some sort of insipid reason as to why their crops didn't grow, or why their electricity bill had spiked was no sweat off Tseng's back. Dealing with them was part of the job, and he dealt with them in a swift, and professional manner. It usual entailed physical persuasion, or money. After all, he was only following orders.

He sat at the counter between a man who was holding a one-sided conversation with his Scotch, and another who had his attention on a rather good looking woman at the end of the bar, who obviously had no interest in whatever he was blathering off to her, but that didn't seem to deter the clueless man. Tseng hated people sometimes.

"What'll ya have?" A familiar male voice before him.

Tseng looked from the desperate man besides him and his eyes fell upon a burly man in a pink apron.

A small crack of a smile crawled across his face, and then Tseng began to laugh a bit louder than he intended. Which wasn't really loud by anyone else's standards, but any laugh from the hardened Turk was a loud laugh.

"Shaddup, will ya!?" Barret scowled at the Turk.

Tseng quickly composed himself, that smile falling from his face with grace, but as he spoke, his amusement was carried out into his words. "They pay you extra to wear that, I assume?"

The young girl's voice from the side chimed into the conversation, and Tseng was a bit surprised by this. "Daddy did a bad thing, so Tifa's making him wear that! It was either that or stand in the corner with no supper!"

Barret cleared his throat, dismissing what Marlene had chirped, but he eventually agreed with her. "Y-yeah, I owed Tifa a big favor for sumthin' I did."

Tseng pointed to the Scotch the man was nursing besides him, silently ordering to the man in the pink apron. "What did you do?"

He reached beneath the bar and set down a glass. "On the rocks?"

Tseng shrugged in agreement, with no particular preference.

The shrill sound of the ice rattling into the glass as they were dropped in filled the Turk's ears. It was a very pleasing sound.

"Dun see how that would be any of your business."

Tseng took the glass from the counter once filled, and sipped on it. "What if I told you that your business has always been Shin-Ra's business, ever since AVALANCHE?"

"Fool, please. This ain't got nuffin' to do with your little Shin-Ra."

The Turk frowned, setting the glass down, enjoying the warm feeling inside his throat from the alcohol. "What if," he paused for a brief moment, spinning the glass on the counter slowly, watching as the ice spun around, "I told you that your business is my business? As in, not Shin-Ra's."

Barret stared back at him, ignoring a patron who made a drunk, feeble attempt to get his attention for a refill. "What up, fool?"

The Turk's eyes crawled up the pink apron, resisting the urge to grin, and they met the now inquisitive eyes of Barret. "I think we both have information that could be useful to each other. Especially since it involves our dear friend Cloud."

Barret suddenly poured himself a drink.

~*~*~

After the last of the drunkards tapered off into the unsuspecting streets of Edge, Barret slipped his punishment off from around his neck and tossed the apron into the pile of dirty towels that Tifa still hadn't washed from two weeks prior. He ran his good hand under the tap and gave it a quick wash as it now reeked of alcohol and Gil.

"A'ight, start talkin' before I lose interest." He looked for something to dry his hand with, but of course there was nothing. He cursed under his breath and wiped it across his pants.

"Why don't you start by telling me what you did to earn yourself an apron in such a lovely shade of pink? Surely it wasn't a consolation prize from the Gold Saucer."

Barret scowled, having the mind to throw the Turk out with the drunkards. "Shut the hell up before I decide to charge ya double for all those damn drinks ya sucked down!"

Tseng waited patiently for him to continue. Besides, he hadn't drank all that much, had he? His eyes glanced down to the graveyard of empty glasses scattered about in front of his counter space. Maybe he had drank a bit more than usual.

"Cloud," Barret started, his voice surprisingly calm and low, "he's been actin' funny again, ya know?"

"More than usual?"

Barret nodded, folding his arms across his chest in thought. "Yeah, like all crazy in the head and shit. I didn't see it myself, but Tifa did. Said he looked all dead in the face. He walked over to the corner and found sumthin' at the end of the bar there." Barret unfolded his fake arm and motioned over to the end of the counter. The metal reflected the dulled lights from above and they flashed into the Turk's eyes. He squinted briefly, his head beginning to spin from the alcohol.

"W-," Tseng hiccuped quietly, placing a hand to his chest, "What did he find?"

"I dunno, some stupid envelope. Looked pretty #$%in' normal to me. Anti-climatic, I'm tellin' ya."

"Ooooh! Daddy said a bad word!"

"F-bomb!"

Barret whipped around to see Marlene and Denzel peeking out from the staircase to the right of the bar. "H-hey! What'd I tell ya!? Get back to bed right now!"

They both let out little screams of terror and the sound of the two scrambling up the wooden stairs was heard. Then the sound of a bedroom door slamming.

"Goddamn kids. No wonder Cloud went crazy."

"So what did it say?"

"Sumthin' that apparently doesn't make sense to anyone but that damn Spikey. Jus' said 'Live'." Barret shrugged his shoulders, frowning in thought. "Tifa didn't want Cloud to know 'bout it, but I gave it to 'im anyways in the end."

"And that's why you're being a 'Susie Homemaker'?" Tseng frowned slightly at the sudden heartburn he was getting, and wondered if insulting Barret had been such a good idea. Any chance of getting an antacid from the man now would be next to nothing, if he even had any.

A scoff, and Barret threw his head off to the side, trying to roll the comment off his back. "Yeah, whatever Turk. We had a goddamn deal. I tell ya my info, you tell me yours."

Tseng sat for a good minute, waiting for the pain in his chest to subside. It persisted however, and he really regretted insulting the man. It was worth a shot, however. "Have anything for heartburn?"

"Yeah, but none that I'm gonna share with the likes of you."

"Well, can't blame a man for trying."

They were quiet for a moment, the hum of the ceiling fans above spinning lazily filled their ears and they could hear the dissipating chatter from the city's inhabitants as they slipped off to bed. Tseng then wondered what time it was.

"Has...Cloud ever told you of his past?"

Barret continued to frown, but this time it was more of a frown that symbolized that the gears in his head were turning. He stood there, and eventually nodded. "Yeah, a little, a few years back after we found his ass washed up in Mideel. Said he'd been livin' a lie."

Tseng nodded slightly, not wanting to move his head much as the feeling of dizziness washed over him. He shifted on the barstool uncomfortably. "Someone I worked with, who was in SOLDIER, was good friends with Cloud many years ago." He let out a soft laugh, allowing his mind to be tugged back to his past. He tried to avoid doing this most of the time, but the alcohol won that tug-a-war with his heart. "This man was...almost a friend to me."

Barret laughed shortly. "That's an accomplishment for ya. Can't imagine ya havin' many of those."

Tseng ignored him and continued. "From what the man told me from time to time, the young Cloud grew very fond of him, looking up at him as if he were a mentor...no..." His voice trailed off for a second, his eyes dulling in thought. "More of a big brother."

"Aww. How sweet. Lemme get a goddamn tissue. Get to the point!"

Ignoring him, once again. "The man thought very fondly of Cloud as well, looking down at him as a younger brother. Seeing as they both were only children in their respective families, one could see how they could develop an affinity towards each other by working closely on missions and in combat together."

"Losin' interest here."

"Cloud was really pathetic. A sorry excuse for a Shin-Ra grunt. His fellow troops despised working with him, even teased him like he was a black sheep. And his superiors disputed with one another as to would be stuck with the kid in the end, in their platoon."

Barret was more interested than what he let on.

"It wasn't coincidence that Cloud was assigned to work with the SOLDIER so often."

"'Cuz he sucked that bad?"

Tseng corrected Barret, in almost a defending manner. "No, physically the young Cloud was just as fit and strong as the next. His PT scores were undeniably sharp in training. He really did have what it took to be in SOLDIER, physically speaking."

"Why the hell didn't he make it?"

Tseng tapped his temple a few times, a gesture he would never use to portray the meaning, but drinking could make a man do funny things. "He wasn't strong enough mentally. He was so weak, so timid. He really was that little black sheep."

Barret almost felt sorry for Cloud at the moment, but that passed as quick as it came on. "So how'd that little runt get paired up with your SOLDIER friend?"

"The SOLDIER requested it. Practically begged me to pull some strings with the Director. After some deliberation, the Director eventually gave in. The SOLDIER was hard to say 'no' to after all."

"That persuasive, huh?"

Tseng let out a soft chuckle. "You could say that. But I think 'annoying' and 'immature' would have been better words to describe him. He really was a fidgety puppy."

"So ya got a childish, immature puppy paired with a delicate, cowardly sheep?" Barret peered at the Turk in almost disbelief at what he was hearing.

The Turk shrugged casually. "Pretty much."

"Sounds like a dream team to me."

Tseng scoffed, his shoulders bobbing up as he did this. He suddenly wanted another drink but thought his wallet wouldn't allow it. "So the SOLDIER got his request and the two were inseparable until the very end. Figuratively and literally speaking."

"L-literally?" Barret was taken aback by this, his eyes widening slightly. His arms that were folded in front of his chest slipped and swung down to his sides, sticking like a magnet. "L-like some Frankenstein shit?"

"There have been studies that have proved that heavy doses of Mako and JENOVA cells combined create an almost blank slate in its human host. As in, if you are exposed to enough of this concoction you could lose yourself."

"Like erases your mind or some shit?"

"Something like that." He grabbed his most recent drink, or what he thought was his recent drink, and brought it to his lips. He tilted his head back and downed the mixture of alcohol remnants and melted ice. No sense in letting it go to waste. "It essentially creates the human host to be like a piece of tofu. It causes the human to take on whatever personality traits they are exposed to. The studies even go as far as reporting that the human could absorb another's physical strength and will, under certain circumstances."

Barret pieced what the Turk was divulging him in slowly, processing it into his brain with utmost care. He suddenly began to get a headache. "So...that's why Cloud suddenly became strong, and why he was such an arrogant little bastard when I first met 'im?"

"The SOLDIER may have been an immature puppy, but he was as strong as they came. One of the finest. Maybe could have been stronger than Sephiroth one day."

Barret repeated this quietly to himself, his mind being trailed off by the conversation. He suddenly snapped back to attention. "Shin-Ra is sick! Now I 'member why I joined AVALANCHE to begin with, goddammit! It's sick shit like that, that breaks a poor fool!"

Tseng's eyes crawled down to his hands gripping his empty drink. He almost felt like apologizing for the company, but almost could go either way. He stayed quiet.

"So your tellin' me that Cloud soaked up this guy's personality and strength at some point in time??"

"Not 'some point'. A specific point."

"Well? When??" Barret was growing impatient and angry at the conversation.

The Turk began to quietly tap his fingers against the counter in thought, or maybe it was a dramatic pause, Barret couldn't tell. He finally spoke. "When the SOLDIER passed his life off to the young Cloud."

Silence, and it was excruciating.

Finally, the Turk spoke once more, his voice holding a hint of sadness in it and his eyes were cast down.

"'Live', is what the puppy said to the sheep."

~*~*~

He had been out cold for what Cid was estimating his thirteenth hour now. It wasn't any special way Cloud had collapsed. No dramatic scream, no trashing wildly about, trying to compose his sanity. It was rather very disappointing, as Cid could have used some excitement after all the time they were holed up in the basement of the Shin-Ra mansion.

The two, after listening to the tape, decided to head back up to the surface to search for a meal and possibly some drinks, and as they were walking along the town, they had passed by the water tower and Cloud just quietly sank to his knees. He didn't utter a single sound, it was as if a switch in his body just simply turned off.

So Cid had to drag the blonde's inanimate, and surprisingly heavy body all the way back to the_ Shera. _He wascursing the entire way, puffing out a trail of smoke as he clenched a cigarette between his barred teeth.

And now he was staring down at the blonde who was completely still. No noise, no movement. Just such scarce breathing that it had initially scared Cid into thinking he was dead for a brief moment. He had to press his ear to Cloud's chest, straining his hearing to check to see if he was breathing still.

"This kid is gonna be the end of me." Cid muttered, wondering if he should have flown him back to Edge and just dropped him off to Tifa for her to deal with. His mind trailed to Shera then, and he got a feeling of guilt and loneliness washing over him.

But then he began to get frustrated. "Heeelllloooo!!!???" He yelled into Cloud's ear, squatting down next to him. "Anyone hoooooommmmmmmeee!?"

And of course, no response. Just shallow breathing that he wasn't even sure that he really heard.

He poked at Cloud's shoulder with his index finger, rather harshly. "Wakey wakey, eggs and bakey!" He frowned, the sudden devious thought of burning Cloud with his cigarette to see if that would rouse him flashed through his mind, and he pushed it back. Now that would just be mean.

Cid let out a small growl and stood straight, giving one last look to the blonde before he turned. "Goddamn, I feel like a babysitter."

He decided to give Shera a call, and after several moments of patting himself down in search of the phone, the memory of him chucking it underneath the table in the basement crossed his mind and he shouted a four-letter-sentence-enhancer.

Cid turned his body and his eyes glanced down to see if the colorful word had even budged the blonde, but he remained comatose.

"Don't move until I get back, okay kid?" He chuckled to himself and made his way back to the mansion.

Cloud obeyed the old pilot, and didn't move.

~*~*~

The lights above flickered uneasily as the two men sat in silence. The conversation had drifted off awkwardly since Tseng had last spoke about the final words of the SOLDIER to the boy. The sound of the water faucet was dripping into the men's ears and grated gingerly at their nerves. It wasn't enough to get either one of them to snap, but it was annoying nonetheless.

Then, the lights clicked off, and Barret was cursing under his breath.

"This happen often?" Tseng's voice reached the angered man and almost surprised him as neither one of them had said a word to each other in quite some time. "Yeah, damn faulty wiring." Barret's voice trailed off into the kitchen behind the bar and he could hear him fumbling for the circuit breaker. "Usually goes out when several things're runnin' at the same time. Like when Tifa has her damn hair dryer on and the kids have the 'tube on."

A brief moment, then a snapping noise, and the lights scrambled back on.

A rattling noise, and then the door to the bar opened.

Tseng turned his upper body in his seat and peered over his shoulder at the person who was entering the bar.

Tifa stood there in the doorway, holding a bag of what Tseng could only imagine was groceries. She seemed surprised to see the Turk sitting at her bar all alone and a sick feeling washed over her. Why would Tseng be here?

Tseng turned in his seat and stood, wobbling slightly at the buzz that was soaked into his brain at the moment. "Miss." He greeted her politely and she just frowned at his demeanor and walked past him, the sound of the paper bag in her arms rustling.

"And what brings Shin-Ra by my humble little bar?" She swooped around the bar, the long skirt behind her legs swaying as she moved.

Tseng sank back down onto his seat, thankful that he remembered the specific height of it, otherwise he'd have missed and made a fool of himself in a drunken stupor. "No reason. Just in need of a drink."

She dropped the bag down on the counter rather carelessly, and he could tell she wasn't very pleased to see him. "Well, looks like you've had enough to last for a while. So why don't you just leave? Unless you got something to say."

Barret's clueless voice came booming from behind the kitchen as he walked back into the bar area. "So this SOLDIER guy is dead now, right?" His face drained of its color as he saw Tifa standing there, her arms folded across her chest, glaring down at the Turk. "S-shit."

Tifa cocked her head to the side, her eyes narrowing at Tseng. Her voice came out very low, almost trembling. "Well? Is he?"

Tseng lifted his hand and looked at Barret as if in need of help. "Um...another Scotch please?"

Tifa turned to Barret, the look on her face unwavering. "Make that a double."

~*~*~

Cid grinned to himself at the feeling of the brisk morning enveloping his skin as he made his way into the entrance of the town from the airship. The sun had yet to grow in strength as it was now just waking up in the sky, causing the darkness of the night to shuffle off nervously. The sound of the wind blowing throughout Mt. Nibel played softly in his ears, and how he loved it. It was soothing, and relaxing.

He had never been a fan of big cities like Midgar. They were too impersonal, too fast paced for an old pilot such as himself. He liked the slow life that Rocket Town offered, and now Nibelheim was starting to make its way into his heart as well.

Everyone seemed so friendly, and yet kept to themselves. It was definitely a backwater town and Cid wondered how Cloud could have possibly been able to wiggle away from carrying any shred of country in his blood. But somehow he managed to do it, whether it was intentional or not. Cid grinned even wider at the thought of Cloud talking and acting like he was from the country, crawled into his head. He chuckled at this disturbing image.

But his attention was brought to the little brown dog then that usually loitered by the water tower each day, grabbing attention and the occasional scrap of food from any passerby, as it was now pacing around skittishly, its tail between its legs.

Cid whistled to the dog and its head shot over to the pilot, its ears lifting up in question. It paused as Cid took a few steps closer, squatting down. He held out his hand and pursed his lips, making the high pitched suckling noise that all animals seemed to find so intriguing. The dog let out a soft whine as it trotted over to the man, its tail still between its legs.

"Hey, what's wrong with ya buddy? Don't look so upset." He smiled warmly as the dog ducked its head down in a submissive manner as it reached Cid. Its eyes peered up at him longingly. Cid chuckled and ran his hand across the animal's head, softening his usually gruff voice to a soothing tone. The animal seemed to briefly relax as it sat down, pressing its body against Cid's knees. "That-a-boy. Dunno why yer lookin' so sad. Yer life is easy. All ya get to do all day is just beg for food and lie around under the clouds all day."

The dog suddenly took off running at full speed.

"Where's Cloud?"

Cid shot up to his feet, whipping around at the voice behind him, kicking up the dirt beneath his startled frame. His hand went to his shoulder in timing with his turn and ducked underneath the strap of his Venus Gospel as he flung it over his head. He caught it and aimed it at the man who stood several feet away.

"Well now, ain't this a rude way of introducin' yerself? Usually someone says 'Scuse me' when they want yer attention, kid."

Cid's eyes scanned the man before him, but his features were hard to make out as the formerly shy sun now began to gain confidence in the sky. It rose behind the stranger.

The man stayed quiet as his hand went up to the sword he held against his back. He lifted it from behind his head, and the sound of the air being disturbed from the force of the sword swinging around cut through Cid's ears.

"The hell are ya gettin' at, swinging that huge ol' old swo..." Cid's voice trailed off as his blue eyes widened. He recognized that familiar weapon. A strange feeling washed over him as he peered at the man who stood eerily still.

"What're ya doin' with that sword, kid?"

"This is mine, yo."

"'Yo'?" Cid threw his head back in surprise, but didn't receive any chance to inquire more about this statement as the man slid towards him, swinging his sword down upon the pilot.

Cid jumped back, the fabric wrapped below the tip of his spear flapping wildly as he moved. "H-hey! Don'tcha wanna talk, kid?!" He let out a grunt then as the man brought down his sword once more. He raised his spear up above his head, his hands bracing the frame of the weapon against the strong attack from the man.

"That a 'no'?"

Cid twirled his spear up with both hands, deflecting another sudden blow from his attacker's strong weapon.

The man staggered back, almost losing grip on the huge sword and he let out a small cry of surprise. He gathered himself, his glowing eyes crawling up the old pilot in an almost delirious manner. He looked a lot like how Cloud would when his mind teetered on breaking.

"Tell me where he is, yo!" He was shouting now, his shoulders rising with frenzied anger.

"I'm afraid I dunno who yer talkin' 'bout!" Cid cried as the man ran towards him, his sword suspiciously down at his side.

Cid thrust his Venus Gospel outward as the man neared him, raising his own arm and out-stretching his left hand toward Cid.

Cid watched as the sharp tip of the spear sliced through the middle of the man's fingers on his steady hand. Cid's eyes followed the blood that sprayed from the man's skin onto his unflinching face behind. He kept running toward him.

And soon Cid found his face in the bleeding hand of his attacker. He squeezed his eyes shut in time with the pressure the man placed around his head with his fingers. Cid let out a painful cry as the force began to dig into his consciousness. He could feel an immense heat against his skin at that moment and he soon realized the man was drawing in energy to cast a spell.

"S-shit!" Cid reacted as fast as he could, slamming his spear down into the dirt below. With every ounce of strength he carried in his body at that time, he used it to toss his shoulders and head backwards, his back beginning to arch and become parallel with the ground. He brought the man down with him in shock, and his grip was released.

The old pilot braced his fall with extended arms behind his head rather gracefully, to his own surprise, and as if he planned the whole thing, he managed to kick his legs up, flipping backwards onto his feet once more. He resisted the urge to wobble as he lunged for his spear, plucking it out from the ground.

The now crazed man was stunned long enough for Cid to even grab a cigarette from the pack on his goggles and toss the correct end into his mouth like a true hero.

Cid let out a taunting chuckle as he spun his spear around, staring into the enraged eyes of his attacker. He let the man steady himself, straightening out his frame as he turned his body to face the pilot. Blood from his hand was dripping onto the dirt below.

A sudden angry cry from the man, and soon Cid found a burst of flames being emitted from the palm of his hand heading right towards his head.

Cid jumped to the side, the inferno grazing across his body, continuing on along the dirt path that led to the lower part of the town. He stumbled as he scrambled to gain his footing from the attack, the burning sensation against his skin stinging at him relentlessly. Cid then got a good idea of how people felt when he slapped them playfully and made a note in his head to cease such action. Capillaries would be spared henceforth.

"Heh! Thanks for the light, kid!" Cid let out a rowdy laugh as his hand went up to his mouth, and he sucked in a very long drag on his cigarette. The tip burned with a small flame in front of a very ridiculing smirk.

~*~*~

Tseng had to explain it to Tifa and Barret several times before they finally wrapped their minds around the concept of Project Z as the three were now seated side-by-side along the bar counter. The amount of empty glasses had tripled.

However no amount of liquor could drown out the oddity of their conversation in the bar that night. Barret and Tifa each took a respective turn asking the Turk carefully worded questions about the information he had just informed to them.

And with each carefully worded question, Tseng replied in an identically worded answer, to the best of his knowledge. Although his information was scarce, and was soon to dry up to the dismay of the two wide-eyed people next to him, he managed to suffice their thirst for answers while they sufficed his thirst for alcohol on equal ground. He felt it was a fair trade.

"S-so," Tifa's voice squeaked out, her hands going to the drink in front of her, clutching it in shaking fists. "The man in the church..."

The two men stayed silent, letting her soak in everything that had been said into her frail mind.

"I knew it..." Her voice tapered off, her mind spinning back to a few days prior.

"Well, maybe this is a good thing, ya know!? We keep lookin' at it like it's bad!" He reached out and patted his friend's shoulder reassuringly. "Maybe this is what Cloud needs to perk up again! His friend could be back, yeah?"

Tseng let out a loud sigh, his forehead yearning to meet the counter top in front of him, partially because of Barret's inane remark, and partially because he was drunk. It was more of the latter. "He attacked us four days ago outside of Kalm. Reno and I were ordered to pursue him and report back to the President of his whereabouts and his activities. But he shot us down."

"Well," Barret turned in his seat, facing the Turk, wearing a helpless look on his face. "Maybe he didn't know it was you guys! Maybe he thought he wuz bein' attacked!"

"Maybe, maybe, maybe!" Tifa slammed her hand down on the counter top, nearly shattering the glass that was still gripped in her hands with force, and it startled the two men. "Dammit Barret, stop making excuses!" Her voice was loud, on the verge of cracking under the tears that suggested to flow. "We just have to face it as it is! No more sugar-coating, no more denial!" The urge to not cry was broken as she said that last word, knowing that in her heart she could no longer do the same. "No...more running." Her shoulders began to shake, the hot tears falling from the sides of her brown eyes.

The two men watched her in a subdued aura. One wanted to console her, but not knowing how, and the other wanted to take back everything that had been said. Which of the two was which, remained silently unknown. In the end their feelings blended together and Tifa sat there, crying inaudibly besides them.

"I want to see Cloud," she pleaded quietly to no one in particular, "I want him here. I want to block him from all the pain."

The men were silent as her tears hit the counter top below.

"I...feel so stranded."

Barret glanced to the Turk who had his gaze straight ahead, seemingly reading the labels of liquor in front of him across the bar, but the burly man knew better.

Tseng finally spoke, his voice almost at a whisper. "He...was my subordinate, he was my friend."

Tifa turned her head, sniffling quietly, her eyes brimming with redness and tears. She held a look of anger, but it wasn't reserved for the Turk. It was for herself and she angrily wiped the tears from her face, composing herself quickly. "So what are we supposed to do?"

"I...don't know. We don't know his location. We don't know where he came from, where he's going. We can't determine his intentions, whether he's sane or not, whether he can be reasoned with, whether or not if he's still..." Tseng swallowed the lump in his throat, and silently cursed the alcohol for bringing forth such memories and weakened feelings. He blamed the alcohol, but he knew his accusations were unwarranted toward the suspected source of his sudden emotions. He continued, a slight tremor in his voice. "...That little puppy."

~*~*~

It had happened too fast, and the old pilot found himself on the hard ground, coughing up a thick substance that tasted an awful lot like blood. He failed to open his eyes, the pain in his stomach unbelievably overwhelming. His body began to shake from the shock of the sword being yanked from his gut, and he could feel the sharp blade sliding out from between his organs. The feeling of his own blood dripping onto his body as the man pulled back his sword sickened him, and he writhed.

Cid felt his upper body being lifted roughly from the ground and he sensed the man leaning in close, their faces inches away. He managed to peel one eye open and he could see his glowing eyes between the haze of cigarette smoke between them. "B-bastard."

"Tell me where he is, yo."

"What's with this 'Yo' shit!?" He coughed weakly, blood oozing from the side of his mouth. It soaked into his cigarette. "Ya sound like that idiot Turk..."

The man was too engrossed in the old pilot slowly dying to notice that his hands were still able to move. "Jus' tell me what I wanna know and I'll kill ya quickly, yeah?"

"T-tell me sumthin', kid."

The man waited, his hands tightening on Cid's shirt. His eyes widened then as he watched Cid bring forth a stick of dynamite between them. He lit it with the final embers of his cigarette before the blood reached the tip. The wick was short, far shorter than the man could possibly have anticipated, given the little time he had to use to process what he was staring face-to-face with. The fuse sparked up and danced between them, scrambling towards the blasting cap in a frenzy.

"Ya like fireworks?"

The explosion jolted the water tower, and cut through the stillness of Mt. Nibel.

Cid no longer had a place in his heart for Nibelheim.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

...To be continued in Chapter Five: Trapped Inside a Memory

Ending Author's Note: Sorry if Tseng seemed a little out of character, but my excuse was alcohol so nyyaaah! And I HAD to throw in one of Cid's limit breaks! It's one of my favorites. How bad ass can one possibly be?? Lighting a stick of dynamite with a cigarette.....utter genius. Thank you Square for bringing me many giggles as I watched him do this throughout the years of playing the game. Anyway, thanks for reading! The next chapter will be published on Friday, August 7th! Hope to see you all then!


	5. Chapter Five: Trapped Inside a Memory

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Chapter Five: Trapped Inside a Memory

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

He finally traveled from his dream back to his waking nightmare. Azure eyes shot open with a sharp gasp, his body jolting from its docile slumber, causing the cot he was laying on to squeak rather loudly. He could feel his heart beating again, and it was more than a welcoming feeling at the moment.

Cloud stared up at the ceiling above him, his mind rewinding to the still white that engulfed him in his sleep. His eyebrows arched and he swallowed nervously, his hands going to each other across his chest for what he could only assume was comfort. He felt the warm feeling of sweat run down from his forehead across his temple, and it made him shiver as he realized he was alone.

_You...never came..._

He sat up slowly, looking around the now familiar surroundings and he once again recognized them as the_ Shera_, but processed this much faster this time around. He swung his legs over the side of the cot and stood, pausing for a moment, straining his hearing to see if he could make out the old pilot cursing somewhere. Deafening silence.

Cloud then blinked several times, dipping into his fuzzy memory, trying to remember how he got back to the ship to begin with. All he managed to remember was the tape recording.

His head spun, the voice of the man echoing in his mind.

_Where's Cloud?_

He squeezed his eyes shut, a short breath being released from his nose. And then a soft groan as he rubbed his head. The feeling of having been asleep for a while once again fell over him and he frowned, wondering how long it was this time.

Wandering the halls of the_ Shera _was in it of itself a formidable challenge, one that Cloud wasn't really up for at the moment. Some rooms looked the same as the next, as others looked like they didn't even belong in an airship. Finally, after poking his head into half a dozen rooms, he finally found the main flight deck and walked up to the windows, the sound of his boots echoing in the empty space.

The sun was barely up towards the start of the sky, and Cloud guessed it to be around six in the morning, but on what day he was obviously clueless on. He could see the town in front of him still, and his heart sank, almost wishing that it was a different scenery around him. Costa Del Sol would have been nice. He mused to himself over this.

A thought finally occurred to him. "Where the hell is Cid?" A feeling of confusion washed over him and he turned, walking briskly to the hanger, hoping it was open as he failed to understand the controls inside this ship. He had little patience at the moment for pressing random buttons and suffering random consequences for doing so each time he was wrong in trying to guess what button opened the hanger door.

However, no random button pressing for him at six in the morning. He lucked out; it was open.

Exiting the hanger, his pace turned from walking to running as his eyes found smoke billowing up from the center of the town as he exited the airship, and his ears caught the sounds of the occupants clamoring frantically.

Cloud bounded into the town, the color slithering away from his face as his eyes fell upon the water tower engulfed in flames.

A quick flashback to the town years ago assaulted his mind.

He swayed on his feet, his eyes darting to each building, his mind slipping into his horrid past so gracefully.

"Hey! You! Blondie!" A voice coming towards him snapped him from his progressing episode and he was startled.

"You gonna stand there or you gonna let your friend die??"

"Friend?" Cloud repeated, dumbfounded.

"Damn you city folk are duller than shit! All that pollution gettin' to your head!?" Cloud was suddenly being dragged to the right of the water tower by some strange man. Unbeknownst to the man, Cloud wasn't really from the city, but he wasn't about to correct him on that as he was soon staring down at the old pilot bleeding from a tremendous wound in his stomach. He was blackened with soot and Cloud's eyes trailed up several yards ahead along the dirt path to a stick of dynamite that lay decimated.

"Shit!" Cloud dropped to his knees, trying to concentrate through the squawking of the townspeople around him. He closed his eyes, a green light emitting from his hands as he pressed them against the disturbingly warm feeling of the wound. It had been a while since Cloud had bothered to use any Materia, and was thankful that he had taken his silver case with him when he set out, let alone was thankful on remembering how to actually use any of it.

Cid suddenly stirred, the bloody cigarette dropping from his mouth as his eyes opened. "Damn, that shit was intense."

Cloud wanted to take his hands away from the closing wound and wrap them around Cid's neck at the moment for making such an asinine comment in his condition, but he resisted the urge to shake him violently. "Who did this?" His voice was curt, demanding.

"C'mon now kid, ya know I can't think without my mornin' cigarette." He licked his grinning lips, his eyes sparkling up at Cloud in a gesture that could have been mistaken for a 'pweddy pwease?' Cloud's stomach turned.

"Ugh, give me a break." Cloud released the spell and reached up, plucking a crumpled cigarette from the pack under his goggles. He flicked it into Cid's waiting mouth.

Cid frowned. "And how am I gonna smoke it, if it ain't lit, dumb-ass?"

"Are....are you freakin' serious??" Cloud's forehead felt as if it were to permanently stick in the astonished expression he held on his face as Cid said this, and he was in utter awe, and yet, he really shouldn't of been as this was typical of Cid. "You're lyin' there dyin' and all you can think about is smoking!?"

More batting of the eyelashes from Cid to Cloud.

Cloud knowing that the old man was quite zealous about his smoking habit even as he lay there dying, thought it best to obey. He snatched it from his open mouth and stood, walking over to the flaming water tower which was being doused with water, ironically enough, by the townspeople. He held the nicotine filled stick against the flame and lit it, then walked back over to the less-than-dying man now. Cloud shoved it back into his mouth.

"Thanks."

Cloud resumed Curaga, waiting for him to speak. The heat besides them began to dissipate with the shrinking flames on the tower, and Cloud relaxed a little, seeing his childhood hangout spared from yet another fiery damnation.

Cid tossed around the idea in his head of being completely truthful with the blonde, and then tossed it out just as fast, given the recent events as he puffed on his cigarette. "I didn't get a good look at 'im." He winced slightly at the pain, his teeth biting into the bad habit in his mouth, releasing a quiet groan from his throat. "Jus' some punk ambushed me."

The blonde's eyebrows met on his forehead once more, his teeth clenching together. "How stupid do you think I am, Cid?"

"Whatcha mean, kid?"

"Do you honestly think I can't tell the type of wound you have in your gut?"

Cid stayed quiet, the sound of the townspeople fading from around them as they made their way to the other side of the water tower to fight the flames. Only a few people stayed nearby to watch Cloud heal the old pilot, but they eventually lost interest and decided it best to help douse the fire in their sleepy town.

"Y-yeah, I guess yer right."

"I've inflicted that wound more times than you know."

Cid closed his eyes, mustering the courage to tell him what he knew. He didn't want to see him break. "It was yer old sword. The one from the church."

The spell stopped, the green hue of light it emitted disappearing with the sound of Cloud's breathing.

"But I honestly didn't get a good look at his mug, I promise ya that much."

A small twinge crawled across Cloud's lips and Cid tried to predict his next facial expression. Cid's guess was dead wrong.

Cloud actually smiled a very faint smile, but it was there. "I'm glad you're okay, Cid."

Cid then wondered if Cloud was okay as he held that smile on his face, but his eyes were full of anguish.

~*~*~

Cloud had been the one dragging Cid now, the favor repaid. And he was heavy, too. But he was being dragged down into the basement of the Shin-Ra mansion, and not the airship since Cid so sheepishly admitted not re-stocking any first aid equipment stored on the_ Shera _since he had actually used it all on Cloud after his battle with the three remnants months before.

Cloud stopped, readjusting the man's arm across his shoulder with a grunt, fidgeting to find the best angle to aid in carrying him. "You still awake?"

"Yeah..." The old pilot's voice spoke, echoing in the basement as they entered. "What'ja bring me in here fer, pal?" A breath exhaled from his lungs through his nose, and smoke plumed from his nostrils like a dragon. "Plannin' on experimentin' on me?"

"I'm looking for medical supplies, dumb-ass."

Cid let out a loud laugh. "Nice, I like that. I'm rubbin' off on ya!" His laughing stopped however, as the pain in his gut increased. After a moment of trying to relax through the pain, his mind slowly trailed to the strange way the man from before had been speaking.

Cloud found a dusty chair in the laboratory and kicked it out with his foot, stretching out the old spider webs that clung to it. They snapped off and floated down to the stone floor lazily. Cloud set the man down gently, watching as fresh blood began to flow. "Damn, there's gotta be something around here I can use." Cloud began to search around for anything he could use to aid Cid.

"He spoke...weird."

Turning, Cloud let one eyebrow lift on his face. "What?"

"The man," Cid began, leaning back slowly in the chair, his eyes closing from either recalling the events, or from exhaustion and pain, Cloud couldn't tell. "He spoke in a weird way."

"How?" Cloud continued to listen, but he began rummaging through several bookcases, opening up small boxes, anything he could find that would possibly be housing useful medical supplies, and not the abundance of strange needles and vials of only-Hojo-knows-what that Cloud managed to surface.

"Like that...idiot. Ya know, um..." He frowned in thought, the loss of blood getting to his memory.

Cloud whipped back around to Cid, once finding a roll of bandages that wasn't covered in dust or what looked like dried Mako. "Just shut up for now. You can tell me later."

"Alright." His voice was slurred and the cigarette dropped from his mouth onto the floor. He weakly reached down to the bottom of his blue shirt and lifted it just enough for Cloud to start tending to the wound. "S'it bad?"

Cloud lied just a little, but at this point it really was hard to tell from all the dried blood that surrounded the actual wound. "No, not really. I just need to stop the bleeding so I can finish healing it. Now shut up."

The old pilot obeyed as Cloud began to wrap the wound. They stayed in silence for a good while, as the blonde wrapped Cid's gut, easing up a little whenever the man winced with pain if he wrapped it too tight. Basic first-aid was, of course, taught in Shin-Ra, but Cloud had honestly forgotten a good portion of the training, and it was probably the important part, too.

He finished, tugging Cid's torn shirt down for him as the man's arms fell to his sides lifelessly. He was breathing heavy, his eyes closed. It almost sounded as if he had fallen asleep.

Cloud stomped out the burning cigarette with his boot and leaned back against the metal table in the center of the room, his mind beginning to drift off to the all too familiar shape of the wound Cid wore. _My...sword? _He began to muse to himself once more, and this was becoming more and more of an everyday activity for him. It was frustrating.

But he gathered himself after a moment in thought, and squatted next to the old pilot and began to heal him once more, now that he wasn't squirming so much. The eerie silence in the laboratory made a small chill run down his spine and caused his hands to slightly miss the wound as he healed. He straightened himself and resumed.

"RENO!"

Missed again.

Cloud let out a yelp, falling backwards on his backside with a thud. "W-what the hell!?"

"He talked like Reno!" Cid was obviously awake now, and squirming once more.

Cloud sputtered, his eyes flickering back and forth on Cid, wondering if he was hallucinating from the pain, or if he were really sane and was about to get to something that made actual sense. "What the hell are you talking about old man!?"

"Are ya deaf, kid!? I said the man talked like Reno! With them 'yo''s and shit!"

Cloud clambered to his feet, wondering if this man would ever let him finish healing him.

But his heart began to race then, as the idea of the mysterious man might possibly not being who he was fearing it really was. "R-really? Then maybe..." He looked to Cid with an expression that Cid hadn't seen in a while...or rather, ever. Hopeful. Cloud began to pace.

"What's that look fer, kid?" He watched as Cloud stewed around, and then realized he possibly may have mislead the man with something he had said. "Cloud."

Cloud stopped, looking to Cid, his hand at his chin in thought.

"I'm sorry, pal. I dunno what I said to make ya look so elated, but the man said _yer_ name, asking for _you_. Pretty sure he's who ya think it is."

The blonde swallowed, a bead of sweat beginning to crawl down his temple. "But...he doesn't sound like that." He protested, rather meekly.

A memory of his old friend flashed into his head.

"He..."

_Vision blocked from an arm, and it pulled back, having ruffled the blonde hair on top his head. The man grinned at him in his past. "Stick with me, and you'll do fine, buddy!"_

"...doesn't..."

_The man stood with his back to the young cadet, his arm out-stretched to protect him. "Lemme show you the power of SOLDIER!" In an flash of silver, the monsters were dead. "Pretty cool, huh?"_

"...talk..."

_Laughter, surrounded in snow. "Good news, Tseng! Me and Cloud here are both backwater experts!" _

"...like..."

_"You're...the evidence that I lived."_

"...that..."

_Cid's voice then echoed in his mind. "Nice! I'm rubbin' off on ya!"_

_The memory of himself, laughing down at Tifa years ago. "What're you talkin' about!? I've always been in SOLDIER!"_

A shattering sound, and Cloud had put his fist through the thick glass of one of the Mako chambers.

~*~*~

A throbbing pain.

Lights were too bright.

Sounds were too loud.

Tseng had been too drunk.

The innocent light of the day crawled across his face as the planet began to rotate in its morning trek around the sun, and Tseng felt as if he could feel it spin so sickeningly slow.

Or maybe it was just his brain doing the sickening spin.

He lifted his head weakly, his vision trembling in his eyes as he opened them to the surroundings of the Seventh Heaven. His hands that were resting across the counter top shifted and knocked into three of about two dozen empty glasses scattered about. The sound of the glasses clanking together made him jump, and the blood vessels in his head began to scream at him to shut the noise up like an old angry neighbor would do when one has been partying a little bit too loudly at four a.m.

Was it four a.m.? Tseng wished it was, then he could sleep more of this nagging hang over off of his mind before the day crept in. Wait, it was already daytime. He had forgotten already.

He turned his head feebly, taking in the blurred sights around him, trying to remember why he was still there and not back in the Healen Lodge to report for duty where he should have been. He glanced up at a wall clock, but failed to read the time.

Sliding off the barstool, he forced his knees to lock into place so he didn't topple over and get a up close and personal view of the intricate woodwork of the floor below. He glanced around for Tifa and Barret and his memory went back to the previous night where he remembered both he and Barret trying to console the distraught woman.

She had been utterly silent for a good fifteen minutes after the realization of their conversation had truly set in. He felt bad for her, he really did. He knew what it was like to care for someone so deeply and watch that person from afar as nothing but tragedy consumed them slowly.

He thought of Aerith.

Fingers pressed into his closed eyes on either side of the bridge of his nose, trying to forget. Forget what, he wasn't sure.

But his mind was taken away then as his phone began to ring in the inside breast pocket of his uniform and he fished it out quickly, knowing it was work related. Tseng with a personal call? Unheard of.

And of course, he was right. It was Elena.

"Tseng, where are you?"

"I'm still in Edge, investigating." His voice came out a little more hung over sounding than he would have hoped. He frowned at himself.

A pause, and Elena could very well pick out that tone from him. "I'll speak softly then."

Tseng smirked very slightly.

Her voice was lowered. "We got a report in around 07:00 from one of the Shin-Ra employees stationed in Nibelheim. The sightings have been confirmed."

"What happened?"

"Tseng...I..." Her voice changed from its professional demeanor and slipped into a soft, concerning tone, of which Tseng didn't care too much for. "It...was _him_."

The phone began to fall from his hands in shock, but he managed to wrap his fingers around the device before it crashed to the floor. He actually stayed silent.

She continued to speak. "The employee filed a verbal report with the WRO after the incident happened. They were under the assumption that it was a terrorist attack."

"Reeve?"

"He called the President directly."

"Why wasn't I informed sooner!?" He yelled out, and he could practically hear Elena cringing on the other end of the phone.

"W-we just received word not fifteen minutes ago!"

"Unacceptable! You should have called me fourteen minutes ago then!"

"Tseng, please, I know you're upset--" Her voice was cut off by the snap of the Turk's phone closing.

He sucked in a quivering breath that was a mixture of anger, vexation and denial, and held it in, absorbing those emotions into his blood. This is what kept him sane and what made him undoubtedly a hardened Turk.

Although he felt like he could crack at any moment as the thought of his old SOLDIER friend crossed into his mind.

Tseng's eyes went to the brown grocery bag that Tifa had brought in the previous night, and he peeked inside. It was filled with Materia and potions.

~*~*~

"Ya sure ya don't want me to heal this?" Cid was the one who now was tending to Cloud, the favor repaid, and now Cloud was back in his debt. It was a vicious cycle. "Thought it'd be a lot worse, but yer glove helped protect yer hand." Cid chucked the shredded glove off to the side.

He had finished plucking the large chunks of glass embedded into his hand, some were harder to tug out than others. The small jagged pieces stuck to his flesh and puckered the skin stubbornly like a tick, as Cid pulled.

Cloud's eyes were cast down, not even wincing as the blood drained from the various wounds in his skin, onto the table. "No."

"Helps keep the other pain away, huh?"

He stayed quiet.

"Welp," Cid finished wrapping his hand with the last of the clean bandages that Cloud had used on him not moments before, "whatever keeps ya happy. That should do it."

His silence, broken. "I want you to leave." Cloud blurted out.

Cid wiped his hands on his pants, seeing as they were full of dirt and blood as is, a little more didn't make much of a difference. "What?"

Cloud slipped off the metal table in which he sat, grabbing his sword holster off the floor and swung it over his shoulder, his eyes refusing to meet Cid's. "I don't want you to get wrapped up in this anymore than you already have."

"C'mon now, Cloud. Don't be stupid just 'cuz I got a little scrape. This shit is nothin', you've practically healed me completely."

Cloud's voice was louder this time. "Go home."

"And what're ya gonna do, huh? Swim across the ocean, back to Edge? Dumb-ass, yer on the other side of the Planet right now! And I know damn well that if ya wanted to go at this alone, ya wouldn't of called me to begin with." Cid tossed a cigarette into his mouth, but didn't light it.

"I thought I was pretty clear. Go. Home."

Cid stood there, letting a short scoff come from his nose. "Don't be such a wussy, pal. Just 'cuz some shit ain't goin' yer way ya wanna cast one of the only people who would stick by ya away like nothin'." Cid blocked Cloud's path as he tried to walk off on the conversation. "What the hell happened to ya, buddy? When I first met ya, nothin' could stop ya. Ya couldn't even dream of not havin' us by yer side, and now...ya just run away like a little chicken shit. We ain't disposable."

Cloud clenched his fists together, squeezing blood from between his fingers and onto the floor below as it soaked through the white bandage. He almost looked relieved by the pain, as the distraught look he wore when Cid had been nagging faded away into what Cid could only describe as bliss.

"I remember when ya actually smiled with us. Hell ya cracked some pretty good jokes in the past that made this old man laugh. You were so different."

"I...wasn't me. I thought we already went over this." Much sarcasm, more than Cid had heard from him in a long time.

"You can be a real bastard, ya know that?"

Cloud was suddenly shouting, and it took Cid for surprise as his demeanor was usually so reserved. "Then what the hell do you expect me to be, Cid!? Who, for that matter!? Because I sure as hell don't know myself! Guidance would be great, but no one seems to have an answer!" More squeezing, more blood, more relief.

"Kid," Cid's voice was gentle, soothing, but didn't seem to penetrate Cloud's emotions at this point as he was already too deep into turmoil than Cid could predict, "who do you want to be?"

Cloud felt a tug at his heart, and he suddenly had an overwhelming urge to be near Tifa. He wanted Tifa to be speaking these words to him, he longed for Tifa to be the one conveying this gentle aura to him. He wanted Tifa, and it scared and confused him.

"I..." He began, his eyes floating slowly down to the floor below like a feather swaying in the wind. He thought for a moment to every question anyone has ever asked him, to every inquiry about his motives, or desires. He probed the depths in his memory, trying to drag forth an instance where he had been asked that very question, searching for the answer he would have responded with before.

But Cloud found himself being dragged into his memory instead.

~*~*~

_"C'mon lady, hurry up! Can't you hear this stomach growling?" The dark-haired man bounced on his feet impatiently, urging the elderly woman to hurry her pace in plating his dinner. "I'm withering away over here!"_

_A young, nervous chuckle from behind and the blonde apologized to the lady for his senior. "Sorry ma'am. He gets fussy when he doesn't eat."_

_"Yeah, yeah." The woman replied, placing the dinner on the tall counter in the window. "You boys enjoy."_

_Zack grabbed the plate the moment it hit the counter and he jogged off to a table outside the small restaurant on LOVELESS Avenue, making triumphant victory like cries as he sat._

_Cloud followed him quietly, just smiling at the SOLDIER who was now breaking a pair of chopsticks with his teeth. He frowned, having split them unevenly._

_"Better spend more time with your girlfriend in the slums." Cloud slid into his seat, setting his meal down in front of him as he grinned slyly at Zack._

_Zack laughed, tossing his uneven chopsticks down into his food, clamping down on the largest piece of beef he could find. "Hey, I've never," and in was shoved the beef, "said she was my girlfriend. We're friends, alright?"_

_"Right, right, that's why you've been babysittin' your phone all day, waiting for her to call?" Cloud split his chopsticks straight down the middle and glanced up to the older man who was scowling at him, his cheek puffed out with food._

_"Hey," he swallowed, "I wasn't babysittin' my phone, I was...making...sure it kept the correct time."_

_"Right, because atomic time isn't accurate enough."_

_Zack made a face, his brows furrowing over his sharp eyes. "Hey, keep soundin' all nerdy like that and you'll never get a girl! Or a phone to call that girl with!"_

_Cloud thought of Tifa back home and he looked down at his food, forcing back the blood that suggested to flow into his cheeks. "W-what if...I already have a girl?" Spoken like a true fibber._

_Zack laughed, nearly spewing the drink he took into his mouth across the table at that moment. "Please, buddy! You can't even speak up for yourself or take care of yourself, you honestly think that I believe you have a little girlfriend?"_

_"H-hey! Y-you don't know that!" Cloud protested, but rather meekly. He made such a convincing argument that it caused Zack to roll the blue eyes in his head._

_Zack took another large bite of his food, talking with his mouth full and it would have made Cloud laugh if he wasn't so embarrassed at their current conversation. "I know you, Cloud. You'd be too shy to even ask a girl for her phone number. Thus eliminating the need for a cell phone. Problem solved. You'll be single for the rest of your life."_

_Cloud frowned softly, his eyebrows arching in a look that could almost have been on the verge of tears. "Y-you think so...?"_

_Zack slammed his hands down on the table, laughing so loudly that people turned their heads in either surprise, or because they were appalled by such offensive behavior from a SOLDIER. "No! See!? You need to toughen up! Instead of practically agreeing with me, you need to tell me to shut up and mind my own damn business! Stop bein' so hard on yourself, Cloud!"_

_Cloud took a small bite out of his food, more for a distraction than an actual bite intended to cease the growling in his stomach. "W-well then, shut up and m-mind your own business." He said nervously, afraid to talk like that to his senior and mentor._

_Zack snorted a laugh. "You gotta try harder than that. You need to say it like you mean it!"_

_There was a moment of silence between then, and Zack was actually worried that he offended the young cadet as his eyes were cast down in a sheepish expression. Zack spoke finally, almost in disbelief over the realization of what he was thinking. "Are...we bickerin' about cell phones and women?"_

_Cloud was the one now to suddenly laugh loudly, his shoulders shaking with delight. "Yeah, I guess we are!"_

_Zack snickered, shaking his head, jabbing his chopstick into a vegetable he had absolutely no intention of consuming. "I'm sorry, friend. I don't mean to be hard on you, but I worry about you sometimes."_

_"Well don't. I can take care of myself. I don't need you to babysit me. You've got your hands full with keeping a tight watch on your phone anyway."_

_Zack smiled warmly at the sixteen year old, not believing a word he was saying. "Okay, I believe you." Spoken like a true fibber._

_"So is she really as beautiful as you say?"_

_"Yeah! She's a fox!"_

_Cloud chuckled, swirling his food in his bowl like a child, his mind going to his own love interest back in Nibelheim. He lost the battle with the blood in his face and Zack pretended not to notice and decided to change the subject before the young cadet got all wimpy on him._

_"Why did you want to join SOLDIER anyway?"_

_The question caught Cloud off guard and he sputtered, nearly choking on his food, his eyes crawling up to the older man warily. "W-why?"_

_"Everyone has their reasons. Just wanted to know yours."_

_Cloud became the bashful little sheep that Zack always found to be so entertaining. He loved to provoke the young one at any chance he could get, just to see him become flustered and fumbling like a newly hatched Chocobo. He would rile up Cloud's self inhibitions so easily, and each time Zack hoped it would become increasingly harder to upset him, trying to toughen him up, but his predictions were wrong. He found it to be easier each time he teased him, and it actually worried him. Maybe this kid really wasn't cut out to be here and that worried him.._

_"I..." He began, his voice very soft and Zack had to strain his ears through the street chatter around them to hear properly. "I wanted to be like someone."_

_Zack grinned ever-so-broadly at Cloud, thinking to himself that Cloud's answer was such a childish, innocent answer. Not that it was a bad thing, but he made something so serious sounding seem so carefree, so ambitious and blissfully blind. "Who do you want to be?" He inquired, his voice almost sounding as if he were asking a small child what they wanted to be when they grew up. Zack found it amusing that Cloud didn't pick up on this belittling tone._

_Cloud pressed his lips together, his hands going down to his lap after he carefully set his chopsticks down across the top of his bowl. Zack could see that he was tugging at the knee of his issued Shin-Ra uniform nervously._

_Zack waited patiently for him to continue. He knew there was more to it than that._

_"I...wanted to be like Sephiroth." If his demeanor could shrink anymore than he had already let it, he'd been just a little speck in the chair he sat in. _

_"Well, that wasn't so hard, was it?" Zack sat back, pushing his plate forward, having already finished his meal as Cloud had only taken two bites of his. He longed for seconds already._

_"Um...why did you want to join SOLDIER, Zack?"_

_Zack folded his arms across his chest, his eyes smiling back at Cloud. "I wanted to be like Sephiroth."_

_They both laughed to each other then, Cloud relaxing a little. It was good to see him relax like that. Zack watched as he began to finally eat like a sixteen year old boy should; heartily. Sometimes Cloud was way too proper for his own good._

_"Lemme in on some of that!" Zack went to reach for some of Cloud's food with his chopsticks, but his hand was slapped away instantly. Zack had little time to react. "H-hey! What was that for?!" He sat shocked, but rather amused._

_"Mind your own damn business!" _

_~*~*~_

Cid was still waiting for Cloud to answer as he finally roused around from being trapped inside a memory for several moments.

"I..." Cloud stammered again, blinking, his avoiding eyes finally looking up and meeting a weary Cid. He took in each roughed detail about his friend at that moment, from the dirt smeared across his skin, the blood on his face and stomach, the tattered clothes he wore from the fight, and to the genuinely concerned look he wore on his face for his friend. Cloud's heart sank and he continued his sentence. "...I want you to go home."

"Goddammit Cloud! Do I hafta beat it into yer head!?"

"I could say the same thing."

Cid let out an angered cry, throwing his hands up in the air. "Yer a dumb-ass! A complete asinine, inconsiderate, childish little dumb-ass! Ya can't handle this yerself, and ya know it. If ya could've, ya wouldn't've called me, ya wouldn't've let me stay holed up in his goddamn mansion for three #$%in' days, and ya wouldn't've let me lie to Tifa on yer behalf!" Cid would of pointed a finger at Cloud during this rant if it wasn't being occupied by gripping a cigarette in a shaking hand. He brought it to his mouth. "So ya can't stand there all pompous and self absorbed thinkin' that no one else matters or deserves to lend ya a hand." And a very, very long drag on the cigarette.

Cloud knew Cid was right, but he stayed silent.

The old pilot sighed heavy, running a hand over his messy hair, his voice sounding more pleading than heated now. "Jus' let me tag along for a little bit longer. Let me take ya back to Edge. That's where ya wanna go next, right?"

Cloud processed this for a brief moment, letting out a small scoff that Cid could have mistaken for an equally small laugh. "I was never really good at swimming long distances anyway."

Cid laughed, shaking his head. "Now yer talkin'!"

~*~*~

Gathering up the courage to fight Sephiroth the first time was an admirable feat all on its own. The second and third time were on equal footing as they beseeched for the same bravado and heroism from Cloud as the first time had.

Facing the abundant and uncompromising demons inside his mind came with the same requirements as fighting Sephiroth had, except this harped on Cloud with an insatiable need for his undivided attention. It leeched off his vitality and morale relentlessly, attempting to weaken his spirit through sheer persistence.

And the two combined would cause any less of a man to fall quickly under the unfathomable horror it brought upon Cloud's existence in the past, and now it seemed to have wormed its way into the present to much of Cloud's distaste, to say the least.

But this...this, what Cloud was about to face, would have made even the most hardened of Behemoths cower in a corner, longing to once again suckle on its mother's teat as it did as a pup for comfort, and that bravado, before mentioned, would have been long withered away inside said creature.

This may have even caused Sephiroth himself to cringe, throwing his hands up in the air exclaiming 'Good luck with this one, Cloud.'

Cloud's thumb circled the 'send' button on his now charged cell phone, staring down at the number to the Seventh Heaven. He was shocked, perhaps even disappointed, to have turned his phone back on having revealed that he had no missed calls, let alone no new voice mails either. A sudden sick feeling waved over him, hoping that his family was safe. But it passed as terror ran through his blood as his thumb involuntarily pressed the button down, and the screen switched over, alerting him that his call was nervously being transmitted to Tifa. Even the phone seemed to hesitate in connecting the call, as if to warn Cloud of his impending bleak fate.

_Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned_.

A shaking hand brought the phone up to his ear, and he swallowed. Hard. The proverbial ringing, and then a brief silence.

Then her voice.

"Tifa," Cloud's voice was shockingly calm, "it's me." The same calmness carried over to her voice as well.

"Hey, this is a nice surprise. Are you sure you didn't dial our number on accident? Or are you drunk dialing me again?"

Cloud felt like laughing, but restrained himself. "Hey, that was _one_ time." He said in his defense.

She did the laughing for him, however. She sounded strangely happy and it brought a sense of apprehension to Cloud that he was sure probably shouldn't of been there.

He began to feel quite guilty over abandoning her so unexpectedly. But then again, it wouldn't of been the first time, and was it really that unforseen by her? Musing to himself, once more. Muse, muse, muse.

"That night must've been a fun night for both you and Barret. It had been a long while since you two had hung out together."

Cloud was slightly embarrassed. "You'll never let me live that down, will you?"

Her voice was teasing, breezy. "Never, so get used to it."

They fell silent for a moment, both of them waiting for the other to speak. No one did however.

Cloud paced back and forth in the plains outside of Rocket Town, the phone in one hand and his sword in the other. He was waiting for Cid to finish cleaning himself up and changing back at his house inside the town. Cid had generously let Cloud go first while Shera was busy gawking at the large healing wound in his stomach, scolding him for his carelessness. Cid had motioned to him to make a break for it and Cloud obeyed, practically scrambling into the bathroom while Shera was occupied nagging at the poor old pilot.

Never again would Cloud take a shower for granted. How he needed one to not only wash away, what he realized to his own disgust, a week's worth of sweat, blood and dirt, but also to wash away some of the worries in his mind as well. He could still hear Shera scolding Cid through the sound of the running water. It reminded him to contact Tifa, which was a funny way to go about reminding him of his priorities at this point.

And as Cloud poked his head out, once finished with his much needed shower, he saw the couple no longer bickering but showing affection toward each other in the form of what Cloud could only describe as an adolescent competition of whose tongue was stronger. Cloud snuck on by, hoping to slither passed undetected by the agitated wife. Cloud knew she would have chewed him out for letting such a thing happen to Cid. And as Cloud went to slip by the two out the side door near the kitchen, he saw Cid flash him a thumbs up as if signifying that he had the woman distracted long enough for him to make his exit. Either that, or he was signaling to Cloud that something else was about to happen that would make Cid a little bit later getting back to the airship than he would have planned.

"So what're you up to?" Tifa asked so casually.

Cloud's First Sword sliced through several Kyuvilduns that had tried to pounce at him to no effect. "Just...keepin' busy." He replied just as casually.

He dodged one of the creatures that tried to lunge for his chest and gracefully just swatted it away with the broad side of his sword. The green creature landed against the ground with a harsh thud and a screech, writhing next to the others.

Tifa chuckled. "Sounds like it."

Another awkward silence between them, and Tifa began to wonder why exactly did he call her. Not that she was complaining as his call had put a lot of her fears to rest, for now, and she knew at least he was safe, for now.

"How're the children?" Cloud could hear the sounds of glasses clanking together and the sound of running water. It seemed like an awful lot of dishes for her to be washing at once, and he wondered how busy they had been lately.

"They miss you, Cloud. We...all do."

"I know. I...um..." He stopped his pacing, sheathing his sword behind his back. His hand rubbed the back of his neck and he winced slightly at the sharp pain that coursed through it. He had forgotten about his self inflicted injury. His voice came out soft, nervous. "...I...uh...mi-"

She cut him off as she finished his sentence, her voice reassuring, soothing. "Miss us too, I know."

He let out a short, inaudible sigh, shaking his head even though she couldn't see his reaction to his inability to speak those simple words to her. "Y-yeah."

She let out an amused noise, almost like a purr and it made his heart jump.

"H-how're things at the bar?" He decided to change the subject as he felt it veering into a path that he was afraid to go down.

"Tseng...came by last night..." Her voice no longer held that amused tone, and fell into a solemn, almost monotone voice. "He...explained some things."

Cloud felt her uneasiness through the device against his ear, and it soaked into him unwillingly. He waited for her to continue.

"Cloud," he heard the faucet squeak closed, the water ceased to run and the surrounding air was silent for both parties, "please, can you come home...?"

He swallowed hard, and Tifa could hear it through the phone. He hesitated, his mouth opening to speak, but no words came out.

"Okay." She nodded to the loud silence that he emitted to her at that moment, and she understood perfectly. "I'll be here when you decide to come back around."

"Thanks, Tifa." He murmured, ashamed. "I'm...sorry."

"I know you are, Cloud." She really meant that, and she smiled understandingly, hoping that he could sense her doing this through the phone, hoping to convey her patience and sympathy toward him.

Both of their attentions were pulled away from the other as two different people approached each of them.

Cloud turned around, watching as Cid trekked over to him. "Tifa? I gotta go now."

"Yeah, me too."

They both said their rather casual 'goodbyes' and hung up.

Cloud lifted an eyebrow at the old pilot who walked towards him with an all too suspicious bounce in his step.

This was his test run. He hoped it did look as cool as he would have hoped. He was smoking two cigarettes at once.

Cloud chuckled quietly, shaking his head. "Cid, that doesn't look very cool. One's enough."

Cid reached him, placing a hand on Cloud's shoulder with an unbelievable grin. Cid winked at him and it made Cloud pull his head back in question, peering at him nervously. "Not for what I just got." He said in a sickeningly sing-song voice that a man of his age shouldn't of been using. Ever.

"D-do I want to know why you look so grossly satisfied?" Cloud slipped his shoulder out from beneath the hand of the old pilot uncomfortably. "What...ugh..._did_ you get?"

Cid slapped Cloud upside the head. "Get yer mind outta the gutter! I got _information_, dumb-ass!" And he flicked one of his cigarettes onto the grass below, a little disappointed that his test run had failed. Miserably.

~*~*~

The beep of the phone sounded as she set it down on the bar counter below. Her brown eyes crawled up to the man who entered the bar then, an uneasiness washing over her.

"Ready ta go, sweet-cheeks?"

Tifa glanced back at the younger girl who stood in the stairway to the rest of the house with a rather displeased look on her face. "You sure about this?"

Yuffie spat her tongue out at Tifa. "You owe me BIG! I wouldn't do a babysittin' jig if it didn't involve Materia in my future. Better bring me back some good ones!"

Tifa nodded, pulling her gloves onto her slender hands gracefully. A quietness settled over the bar as she walked around the counter, her heart beating in her chest as she made her way over to the man. She stopped and turned to face the young ninja slowly. "If Cloud comes back while I'm gone..."

Yuffie waited for her to speak as she trailed off, her eyes going to the floor in thought. Yuffie shifted on her feet, her arms folded across her chest.

"No. Nevermind," Tifa forced a smile on her face, "I'll be back before he will."

"That Cloud," Yuffie muttered to herself as she watched Tifa join up with Reno, and they left the bar quietly, "he's such a pain in the ass!"

~*~*~

"Are you sure, President?" Rude set the phone down back into its cradle and the light flashed on reminding everyone that it was charging silently just in case someone was in need of its services again. It sat there patiently.

The President leaned back into the couch in which he sat, kicking his leg up onto the knee of the other. He spread his arms out lazily across the back of the couch, letting out a concerned breath from his nose. "I don't like being played the fool, Rude."

The Turk nodded silently, his shoulders squared, his hands being folded in front of him, his feet slightly parted. He needed to learn how to relax sometimes, but Rufus wasn't about to tell him how, at least not at this point. "Understood, sir."

His eyes stared off ahead of him, into the small kitchen area to the left of the lodge. His gaze fell upon the broken chair that Cloud had used to focus some of his rage out on not two weeks prior. The three splintered legs were picked up off the floor and placed on the table, awaiting to be mended with the promise of wood glue and sandpaper by Reno. But that was two weeks ago, and Rufus wasn't all that surprised that it still sat there, untouched.

His mouth opened to speak, his eyes narrowing in thought. "My company had lost three of its department heads in quick succession." Rufus brought a hand to his chin, stroking it in contemplation. "I thought I was ready to take on my father's legacy, but I was young, and naive."

"Sir." Rude frowned, straightening up as Rufus spoke.

Rufus continued, his head tilting back slightly against his neck, looking up at nothing in particular. "All of those rash decisions I made."

"You made decisions based on information you had at the time, and acted accordingly. You were doing what the President should have been doing."

Rufus chuckled at the stoic Turk, shaking his head. "I thought I could rebuild the very name of Shin-Ra. I am not a man of many regrets, as you know."

"Sir."

His sapphire eyes fell upon the single leg on the broken chair that stood strong, untouched, as if it were mocking the others of its existence. "It's time to take out the last leg standing of my regret."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

...To be continued in Chapter Six: Ravel Mahler.

Ending Author's Note: Bwaa, after some more research on the original time-line of the game events, I discovered that the dates I used in Chapter Three were off by ten years. My original source was apparently incorrect, as the new dates I entered came from a translation of the FFVII 10th Anniversary Ultimania, and the Crisis Core Ultimania. So, an apology to the readers from me, and the dates have been changed accordingly. So instead of some of the events in the files Cloud was reading being in 1992, they are changed to 0002 etc., etc, which will be touched upon in Chapter Six. Sorry about the change, everyone, but I'm anal and a perfectionist and everything needs to be perfect. O_O Dear god I'm my father! **spiraling** And if you're wondering about the details of Cloud drunk dialing Tifa in the past...too bad. I'm leaving that up to your interpretations...for now. Maybe I'll save that idea for another fic. Just wanted to say thank you for everyone who has been followin' this, and reviewing! Thank you for your time and support! Come back Friday, August 14th for Chapter Six! The plot bunnies will be hoppin' once more.


	6. Chapter Six: Ravel Mahler

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Chapter Six: Ravel Mahler

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Chaos all around.

Explosions all around.

The sickening sound of the air raid siren could be heard through the blood coursing through his eardrums.

Fire, smoke, pain. All were being too familiar with him at the moment, and he willed it to go away, but no amount of will could make this unwanted guest from overstaying its welcome.

Frantic searching for a way out. Blindly feeling around, blood running dry. A light.

Then darkness engulfed him. He would stay in that darkness for two months.

~*~*~

Two pair of blue eyes stared back at him, two blondes sat across both holding astounded and doubtful looks on their faces. One was smoking, the other was wishing that one wasn't. One was slightly bouncing a leg, the other was wishing that one wasn't.

Both opened their mouths to speak. "What?" Was all they simply asked.

Rufus chuckled, folding his arms across his chest. "I can see why you both would be surprised. But it's the truth."

Cloud spoke slowly. "There's...a Vice-President?"

"Well of course. Why wouldn't a President have a Vice-President?" He shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. "Makes sense, does it not? Surely you wouldn't of thought that during my recovery from the explosion in Midgar I wouldn't have someone take over in my place. I have an obligation to run a company, you know."

"Why didn't you tell me this before?" Cloud inquired, trying to control the growing annoyance in his voice.

Rufus' face fell flat. The two blondes could make out a vein that protruded in his forehead at that moment. His mind trailed back to several months prior.

_"Rufus Shinra? Do I feel sorry for you." Cloud shifted on his feet, his eyes meeting the man sitting in the wheelchair, covered in a white cloak._

_The Turk and the President sat in a brief, uncomfortable silence. One cleared their throat._

_"The day of the explosion..." Rufus began._

_Cloud cut him off. "What do you want?"_

_"...I managed to get out..." He tried to continue._

_And cut off again. "Who were the guys that attacked me?"_

_"...before it colla--" He wasn't allowed to finish._

_"I'm leaving."_

Rufus let a small smile crawl across his face as he looked to the younger blonde, trying to suppress the irritancies that threatened to crack his aloof facade. "Must of been something that simply slipped my mind."

"So...what does this hafta do with Project Z?" Cid flicked his cigarette into an ashtray that was thankfully sitting on the table in front of him. He then wondered which one of the Turks possibly smoked. But Rufus had just been expecting their company, however.

"My appointment to Presidency was short lived. After the explosion in Midgar I slipped into a coma for two months."

"We would've sent a gift basket, had we known." A puff of smoke from Cid's mouth as he said this.

Cloud smirked at this.

Rufus smirked as well, not from being amused, but because he tried to hide the fact that that was quite an irritating comment. Again with the irritancies. "Yes, however it was assumed that I was dead."

"Okay, white lilies then." Cid corrected himself, sarcastically.

More smirking from Cloud.

Rufus leaned back in his chair, trying to dumb down the growing urge to throw the two out, but he knew that nothing could stop them from getting the information they needed. Especially Cloud. Rufus feared for the safety of the other chairs.

"During my father's reign as President he made sure to appoint someone else as a successor to the company in the event that I should perish or become unfit to control the company, once I took over. He didn't leave that decision to me, as you see my father always had doubts in my ability to run the Shin-Ra company."

"Well ya seem like a real stand-up guy, why wouldn't he trust such an innocent face?" Cid replied, sarcastically...again.

Rufus actually laughed at this. "That's exactly why. My father didn't trust my will and motives. Thought I was too reckless. He felt that there was a need to have someone hovering above me...or rather, below me to ensure that I was doing my job correctly."

"You? Too reckless?" Cloud could hardly believe this.

"Absurd, isn't it?" Rufus reached up and rubbed his index finger across one of his eyelids, frowning thoughtfully.

The two guests looked up as Elena emerged and set tea in front of them both, looking rather displeased by either having to serving them, or they themselves being there. Maybe it was the conversation as Rufus finally spoke again.

"Ravel Mahler." He said simply.

"Ravel Mahler?" Cloud frowned at this name, straining any sort of memory he had of his past with Shin-Ra. The name seemed vaguely familiar but he couldn't quite recall who this person actually was. Although it could have just been false memories being conjured up in his brain. Something he was so used to.

Cloud reached for the tea, but it was hot against his wounded hand so he recoiled with a slight wince. He had to wait for the tea, _again_.

"I'm not surprised you don't remember him, actually. He was more of the behind-the-scenes executive who was on the Presidential Advisory Board. A rather cunning and conniving business man, to say the least. "

"So he got along great with yer old man, yeah?"

"My father always favored the brown-nosers."

Elena grinned and went to retreat back to where Rude was standing off to the side, observing silently in front of the large windows in the main room. The sun was beginning to set behind him, and the dust in the room danced.

Cloud turned in his seat then, watching as Elena walked briskly away. He turned back around in his chair, his brows meeting in the middle of his forehead. "Where's Reno and Tseng?"

"And why do you care of the whereabouts of _my_ employees?" Rufus asked harshly, defensively.

A flash of anger crossed Cloud's glowing eyes. "Because I know _you_ and _your_ employees are probably up to no good."

Rufus motioned down to Cloud's hand, the bandages soaked with blood. "And what happened to your hand?"

"And why do you care about what happened to _my_ hand?"

"My point exactly."

Cloud shut his mouth.

Rufus continued his story. How he loved to tell them. "Underhanded; sly; insidious; shrewd; call him what you wanted, he was undeniably a sharp professional and that kept the entire Advisory Board in silent fear over such tenacity that he carried. My father really did confide in him more than he should have. But Mahler helped him through some difficult decisions that in the end benefited the company and the wallets of the big-wigs. Although that resulted in leaving the Planet in the sorry state it's in now."

The younger blonde opened his mouth to speak, but Cid took the words right from him and in a lot more irritated sounding voice that Cloud would have considered using. "What does this crap hafta do with Project Z???" He cupped a hand over the end of a new cigarette as he lit it.

Cloud breathed in deep as he found it odd that he enjoyed the smell of a freshly lit cigarette, but hated the smell it changed into once it began to release its toxins into the lungs of the innocent around. He thought it reminded him of his father, but not that he could remember much of him to begin with.

Rufus had a good handle on ignoring the impatient guests in front of him and he so easily ignored them. "So it was no surprise that my father appointed him to be my Vice-President once I took over in his stead. Needless to say I wasn't very pleased with this decision."

"Why didn'tcha just fire his ass then, bein' the President and all?" Cid chimed in, having taken a final puff on his cigarette before he rubbed it out into the ashtray. He went through that one quicker than anyone had seen him go through a cigarette before. It was astounding and even Rufus seemed intrigued by it.

"The...Advisory Board voted against it."

Cid let out a rowdy laugh, slamming his hand down on the table in front of him. Cloud was reaching for his tea as Cid did this and it caused the cups to teeter before ultimately knocking over one of them. Cloud retracted his hand, giving Cid a rather irked look, once again being denied the soothing liquid opportunity.

"So lemme get this straight. Yer the President, but ya hafta go through an Advisory Board before ya make any decisions!?"

"Doesn't that make sense to you? There has to be some sort of system of checks and balances in any level of a company. Unlike the way my father had reigned over the citizens of this Planet, our company should at least have some sort of democracy within itself."

Elena hurried over and tossed down some towels onto the table before the tea began to spread over to Rufus' side. She threw a towel over Cid's head in disgust before she walked off.

"H-hey! What was that fer, lady!?"

"You're aggravating!" She spat her tongue out at him as he peeled the towel off, glancing back to her with a look that could have been mistaken for flirtatious rage. If there was even such a thing. If not, Cid had just invented it.

"And ya'd look a lot better with a little more skin showin'. Try a skirt instead of pants next time, honey." He snickered to himself triumphantly as he heard Elena make a sound of shock and aversion all in one.

Cloud's head shot over to the old pilot. "Again with the sexism!"

"What? This old bird can't help himself." A cigarette was lit up again.

Cloud, Rufus and even Rude were all quite embarrassed for the poor female Turk, but she played it off nicely. Then again, she had to be tough to run with the big boys, as Cid would have probably commented.

"I was uncomfortable with Ravel Mahler from the very beginning of my Presidency." Rufus continued, the two blondes turning their attention back to him. "He was _quick_ to undermine, _quick_to question my motives and abilities. He was much like my father, actually. So it was no surprise that once I was injured in Midgar, he was _quick_ to spread the rumors that I was dead. Thus allowing him to take control of the company."

"Pretty devious. I kinda like the fellow."

Rufus chuckled quietly at the old pilot's comment, his eyes seeming to drift off into the memory of that night in Midgar. "Even if he had ulterior motives for doing so, I don't blame him. I thought I was dead, too."

"We all did." Cloud said quietly. "I remember catching an article shortly after saying that there were several unidentifiable bodies that were excavated from the wreckage, and you were assumed to be one of those."

"Slander and propaganda are two things that Shin-Ra does best to cover its blunders." Rufus admitted casually.

"But I don't remember ever reading about the company appointing a new President, though." Cloud continued, frowning in thought.

"That's because it never did. At least, not publicly. As arrogant and self absorbed as Mahler was, he was still that genius business man. He manipulated Heidegger and Scarlet into a coup, ultimately causing their downfall against AVALANCHE. Two less people to get into his way or oppose him. After the loss of two department heads and its president, he felt it to be in the company's best interest to pull back from the media, hoping to pull the face of Shin-Ra away from the growing acridity of the public." He shrugged indifferently, almost as if he didn't quite understand what he was saying. "Shin-Ra, of course, seemed to be everyone's enemy. Well," he chuckled, "at least until Meteor was summoned. Then the people were torn between what they feared and loathed more."

"Now thatcha mention it, Shin-Ra did stay pretty damn quiet after all the crap started happenin' with Meteor."

"Yes, it was the perfect time to slither away, unnoticed, to conduct other business."

"'Other' business?" Cloud asked, his eyes narrowing.

"Mahler despised AVALANCHE, as of course any Shin-Ra employee should have. He felt that AVALANCHE would get in his way of controlling the company and ultimately the Planet. But his disdain for your little rebel group branched out as far into his resources as he could get his despicable paws into."

The two blondes waited, to Rufus' surprise, patiently.

"Hojo."

The two blondes writhed at the name, and Rufus was no longer surprised.

"During the two months I was presumed as dead, an unbelievable amount of money began flowing into one of the only departments that the company had left. Which of course, as you know, was the Science Department. Hojo and his understudies couldn't of had more of a perverse joy about them, I could only imagine." Rufus grasped his tea cup in his hands and brought it to his grinning mouth. "Boys with their toys, right?"

Cloud shuddered, a memory of being confined in the Shin-Ra mansion flooding back to him. He seethed at this insensitive comment, a dull headache beginning to swarm across his head. "Get to the point."

"I'm sorry, I've seemed to have upset you." Rufus grinned rather mischievously at Cloud who was now unconsciously rubbing his temple in annoyance. "I could always save this story for another day, seeing as you could probably get this information so easily elsewhere."

"Ugh..." More temple rubbing. "Fine. Just...continue."

The grin widened and Rufus leaned back in his chair, his hand going up and brushing away the hair that hung against his eyes. It just fell back into its unwanted place. "It turned out that the Science Department to Mahler was much in a way like Mahler was to my father."

"Ass-kissers?" Cid asked, flicking a line of ashes into the ashtray.

"Hojo was a very stubborn man. He was also a very prideful man. That combination wasn't very effective in getting what he wanted with Mahler. However, Hojo needed money for his research on Sephiroth clones, and Mahler wanted AVALANCHE out of the way so he could have one less thing standing against him when he ultimately took over Shin-Ra. Luckily for Hojo he didn't have to kiss any ass to get what he wanted from Mahler. Both parties benefited, just like Mahler did with my father and vice versa. So, you already know first hand the result of that strange union."

"A little too well." Cid scoffed.

"So it really was a matter of 'Scratch my back, I'll scratch yours' with Hojo and Mahler." Rufus' eyes flickered over to his two Turks standing watch in the other room quietly. Elena was glancing at her cell phone probably wondering why Tseng hadn't reported back in yet, or why he hadn't even called. "'So what does this have to do with Project Z?' you're wondering."

Cid rolled his eyes, yet another thing a man of his age probably shouldn't do. "Duh. That's why we're here, dumb-ass."

Rufus sipped on his tea, still holding that pompous smirk on his face. "What if," he set the cup down, "I told you both that what I know about Mahler's connection to Project Z will do nothing to change the current situation. Would you still want to know what I know?"

The two were loudly silent.

"Money."

The two narrowed their eyes simultaneously.

"Funding. That's all." Rufus shrugged to them, helplessly.

"Just...money?" Cloud's breath began to quicken in his chest and Cid glanced over at him nervously. "That's all?"

"Money, Gil, cash, call it what you want. That's all the connection he has with Project Z. At least, that I know of. Although I'm still President, things do go on behind my back that I can't control."

"A-are you serious?" Cloud questioned the very validity of Rufus' story at that moment. The answer was just too easy, just too innocent.

"Well," a short laugh from the President, "that's democracy for you."

~*~*~

"So what IS the deal with you and Cloud, anyways?" Reno glanced over at Tifa, lifting an eyebrow, his hands slipping behind his head as he leaned back in the passenger seat of Tifa's sA-37.

"What does it matter to a Turk what my personal life entails?" Tifa replied coldly, leaning into the steering wheel to see out her side view mirror as she merged onto one of the winding freeways of Edge. "Shouldn't you only be concerned with Shin-Ra affairs and money?"

"Hey, there's a lot more to the Turks than that, yo. Booze and women fall into that category, don't forget."

"For you, I'm sure."

Reno shrugged slowly, frowning thoughtfully. "Ya dun hafta answer the question, I was just curious, yo. Just figured ya can't talk to that blonde idiot, ya can't talk to the kids so ya must have things to wanna talk 'bout with another adult."

"Yes, of course. But I don't view you as an adult. More of a child in an adult's body."

Reno shrugged again, letting out a calm chuckle. "Well, I tried, yo."

Tifa took the exit out of the city and pulled onto the dirt of the plains, heading towards Midgar. The sun was beginning to fall back behind the sky, allowing the pink hues of the evening to make its way center stage. She always enjoyed this time of day. It was so haunting beautiful, even surrounding the ugly ruins of Midgar.

But she couldn't enjoy the evening sky at that moment as she sat silently, a few choice things eating at her that she longed to confide in someone, _anyone_. But this was Reno, how would he possibly understand?

"Do ya love him, yo?" Reno blatantly asked, smirking wider than he probably should of been. But the smirk was soon knocked off his face as he found himself flying forward into the dashboard before him. He could hear the tires lock up as the vehicle slid to a stop in the dirt.

"I should kick your ass outta this truck right now, Turk! You can walk back for all I care!"

"Whoa, whoa! It was just a simple question, yo! No need to get all hormonal on me." He peeled himself off of the dashboard, frowning as he rubbed his now reddened forehead. "I think I already know the answer anyways."

Tifa was glaring at him with very, very scary eyes. Reno had regretted opening his mouth but it was too late to worry about that now. What was done, was done. He was more concerned about his own wellbeing in the near future at this moment as she looked as if she would tear him in two. He shifted the opposite direction in his seat until he was plastered up against the door of the truck trying to get as far out of her reach as he could. If only the window had been open, he would have slithered out of it as fast as he could and hit the ground running.

"You don't know the answer, so don't sit there and say that you do. You don't know a damn thing and it's gonna stay that way, so get used to it."

"Yeah, yeah..." He tried composing himself and shifted in the seat. He thought it best to buckle his seat belt at that point as she was the one with the anger and the ability to stop the truck on a Gil with the simple press of a pedal. "Sorry for the intrusion, yo."

She let out a low, irritated sigh resuming her short drive across the plains to Midgar.

Reno grinned over at her, his mischievous side conquering the part of his brain that controlled his common sense and ability to make reasonable decisions. That part of his brain was always so lazy, and oftentimes late to work. A real slacker and a freeloader and it was to no surprise that it lost the battle of control so easily. Then, his vocal chords were suddenly taken over by his mischief and surrendered passively, waving that proverbial white flag. He spoke so teasingly. "You loooooooove him!" Spoken like a child.

"I swear I'll turn this car back around and go home if you don't be quiet!" She threatened like a parent.

Reno chuckled. Maybe she was right. Maybe he wasn't the best person to confide in.

~*~*~

He was waiting.

And he waited, and waited.

But unlike waiting for somebody in a dream, his expecting company actually arrived, the tiny truck braking to a halt, kicking up dust and small debris as the tires gripped onto the ground.

"You're late." Tseng glanced at the time on his phone before slipping it in the inner breast pocket of his suit jacket.

Reno slumped over as he walked towards the boss, letting out an exasperated sigh. "By three minutes, yo! That's not late, Boss!"

"There is always an excuse needed for being late, but never is there an excuse needed for being early." Tseng put so matter-of-factly, and with a rather smug aura about him too that told Reno he was back to his old self. The vibe he was emitting in the helicopter before they were shot down was a strange one that worried the red-headed Turk. Reno had worked with him long enough to know when Tseng was the slightest bit of nervous or angry even though his outward emotions were so...emotionless.

"Did you bring me the money you owe me for the tab?" Tifa shut the door of the truck and sauntered over to the two Turks, the sound of her footsteps echoing in the shambled ruins of Sector 8.

"I provided you with information, that should make us even." He replied, dryly.

"I provided you with top shelf, trust me we're not even." She replied, even more dryly.

Tseng stayed silent, defeated. He felt his wallet cringe inside his pocket.

"So we know what we're lookin' for, yeah?" Reno glanced at the two and they seemed to be bristling towards each other in a rather uncomfortable-for-the-odd-person-out type of silence that made Reno, well, uncomfortable. Had he missed something?

"We'll see what we can find." Tseng tore his gaze away from Tifa's glaring eyes and turned to Reno, lifting an eyebrow at him. "Just...don't touch anything, Reno."

Reno let out a nefarious laugh, as if he were already caught in the act of doing something he wasn't supposed to be doing under Tseng's watch. "Welp, time to get this show on the road, yo." Reno tapped his nightstick against his shoulder and the three turned, staring at the ruins of the Shin-Ra Building.

~*~*~

There was an uncomfortable silence that had drifted over the men who still sat at the table in the lodge. Nothing but the sound of scattered shifting from the three and the quiet crackling noise from Cid's cigarette was heard as he took long uncomfortable drags on it.

Rufus stared into Cloud, who just sat there, staring right back at him. Mako eyes met Mako eyes in a rather dull fashion, and Rufus wondered if Cloud was even thinking much of anything. His face was horrifically void. Rufus just had to look away, it was unnerving.

The young blonde opened his mouth to speak, and the breath he took in cut through the silence and caused both Rufus and Cid to turn and look at him once more, hopeful that someone would put an end to the stillness in their conversation. "Why would...this Mahler guy fund something like Project Z?"

Rufus chuckled, mockingly. "What're you talking about? It's research. People with money like to spend it on frivolous things."

"I think ya need to rephrase yer question Cloud, apparently this Presidential idiot ain't gettin' it." Cid glared a bit at the President, bringing his cigarette back up to his mouth to take a puff. He hesitated sucking on the bad habit as he spoke again, "We may hafta beat it outta him." And in it went.

"I read in the files we found in the mansion; one said that the funds had been cut due to Hojo's research taking priority. That was dated seven years ago, in '02. That was way before they named it Project Z, and way before this Mahler guy had become Vice-President of anything. The next file I found was dated in '07 five years later, and money didn't seem to be an issue anymore. That was when specifically Project Z was started. But still, this was before Mahler became Vice-President. So who decided to fund Project Z at this time?"

"What does this have to do with the fact that nothing will change when you find out it was all for research, like I'm trying to tell you?"

"'Cuz we know ya ain't tellin' us the whole truth, pal!" Cid slammed his hand down again and the other two seated at the table flinched involuntarily, their eyes darting down to the remaining tea cups that sat on the table. The cups wobbled, but held strong as they were in great fear of finding the same fate as their fallen brethren.

Shaking his head, Rufus let out a laugh that was defensive, secretive, and it made the two blondes lift their brows in question. "Look, when you had called me asking for information I was gracious enough to allow you to come back to my humble little lodge for a chat. And that was it. I've told you what I know already."

Cloud quickly stood, ready to pounce on the man once more, but sensed the two Turks behind tensing up, readying themselves to make a move if Cloud should do so. Cloud had actually forgotten that they were there.

But it was Cid who had grasped Cloud by the arm and hoisted him back down onto his seat. "Hey, I wanna beat the shit outta his smug ass too but it won't solve anythin'."

Cloud protested, sounding like a child who wasn't getting his way. "He hasn't told us shit!" Cloud whipped his attention back to Rufus who was just sitting there so casually, his hands folded in front of his face, his eyebrows arched in the most innocent way, as if he were critiquing a painting. And that made Cloud very, very angry.

"Kid, just chill out."

Cloud obeyed like a reluctant, pouting child.

"How did you get my number, anyway?" Rufus suddenly realized, his eyes glancing from Cloud back to Cid.

Cid let out a laugh that was borderline sounding like a giggle, _one more thing_to add to his list of things he shouldn't do at his age. "I know some people at the WRO."

"_You're_involved with the WRO?" Cloud tilted his head at Rufus.

"He'll deny it, dun bother askin' him Cloud." Cid flicked ashes into the ashtray.

"I'll admit, my company owes the Planet a lot. I think I've said this before."

Cloud scoffed, shaking his head very slowly, his eyes not budging from their intense stare into the President. His mouth opened just as slowly as his head was moving and he spoke, a sound of disbelief in his voice. "Money."

Rufus just sat there, letting a smirk crawl across that innocent face.

~*~*~

"Money makes the world go 'round." Cid slapped Cloud's shoulder as they exited the lodge. Cloud was absolutely seething.

It had been raining again. The trees tucked into the mountains around them were swaying in time with the gentle breeze that flowed through the small valley that the village sat between, and it brought a sense of tension, as if it were a calm before a storm. The gray clouds above scrambled across the night sky, as if they were running from something unseen. An unwelcome guest.

But the two didn't seem to notice the fear in the sky, as it was actually the usual weather around that area, and especially around Midgar. It was so dreary, but everyone had just gotten used to it, like an old friend dropping on by unannounced.

"What a waste of time." Cloud exclaimed as he seemingly stomped down the flight of stairs, trying to hold in his frustration. "He couldn't of just told you this over the phone when you had called earlier?"

Cid laughed. "Ya honestly think he'd spare us like that!?"

Cloud fished around in his pocket for the key to the Fenrir as he reached the bottom of the stairs. His hands went down and grasped the handlebars as he swung his leg over, seating himself on his motorcycle, nestling into it. It had been a while since he had driven it; how he missed it.

Cid slid on behind him, and he had to admit that for such a gaudy looking bike, it sure was fun as hell to ride. He pondered for a moment if Cloud would let him drive it, but then thought it best not to ask. He didn't feel like having Cloud vomit all over his back halfway down the valley towards the _Shera_. Cid never did quite understand the concept of motion sickness and why people chose to get it.

Obviously, people didn't actually have a choice in the matter, but Cid had a one-track mind. Whatever was foreign to him was just strange and unnecessary.

The growl of the Fenrir sounded and Cid grinned widely then, his hand caressing the side of the motorcycle lovingly. "Oh honey, don't be mad. We'll be gentle."

"The hell!? Keep talking like that and you're walking back to the ship, old man." Cloud pulled back on the throttle and the sound of Cid's cackle was left behind with a plume of dust at the bottom of the stairs.

~*~*~

"Sir, with all due respect," Elena gathered up the tea-soaked towels, peering at the President with a concerned look, "why didn't you just spare them and tell them that you don't really know anything?"

Rufus scoffed a laugh. "It's bad enough that I'm the president of my own company and not aware of some if its activities. They don't need to know such things."

Rude's phone began to ring and they ceased conversation and movement as Rude answered.

"Rude." Tseng's voice came from the receiver, and Elena could hear him. Her heart skipped a beat, but then she crinkled her nose, realizing that he chose to call Rude and not her. She had been babysitting her phone all day.

"We're in. Let me speak to the President."

Rufus sipped on his tea nonchalantly as the phone was handed to him, and he spoke to his Turk even before Tseng had begun to explain what was going on. "The pass-code to the security terminal is '98452'. And if that doesn't work, well..." His voice trailed off as he heard the warped sounds of the old security system harping through the phone.

"Yeah." Tseng replied and Rufus could hear several gunshots on the Turk's end. "It didn't work."

"Well then, looks like Reno will finally be earning that paycheck, yes?" He could hear Reno shouting something to another person, and a few choice swear words following. "Tell him for every Hammer Blaster he takes out single handedly, I'll take 300 Gil off the money he owes me for the chopper."

"How generous of you, sir." Tseng replied blandly over more gunshots and his voice was its usual calmness even through the chaos. "What was the pass-code to your old office again?"

Rufus sat for a moment, thinking through the shouting, the alarm and the gunshots.

Reno's voice came through. "Dammit woman, watch where you swing that leg of yours, yo!"

"Woman?" Rufus inquired to Tseng.

"We invited a special guest along."

"Ah, I see. The more the merrier." Rufus chuckled. His mind suddenly clicked with the memory of the old pass-code to his office. He was about to speak when he heard the woman's voice letting out a cry of strength, and then the sound of a metal door being ripped from its frame, and then the sound of the remains clambering to the ground in a pathetic heap.

All noise but the alarm in the background ceased for several moments until both of the Turks over the phone let sounds of utter surprise flow from their throats.

Tseng finally spoke, an unbelievable sound of shock and amazement in his voice. "U-um. Sir? N-nevermind, we're in."

"Very good. Report your findings to me asap."

"Sir."

Rufus closed the phone with a soft snap and leaned back in his chair. His hand went up to his forehead and flicked his hair out of his narrowing eyes. An unsettled feeling had hovered over him.

_Mahler, what the hell are you up to?_

~*~*~

Tifa tossed the security door off to the side like it was a consolation tissue from the Battle Arena in the Gold Saucer. Her glaring eyes wandered back to the red-headed Turk tauntingly and he just stood there, shifting on his feet with nothing short of a 'please-don't-do-that-to-my-crotch-area-if-I-ever-make-you-mad' type of look.

Tseng held a similar look and the two men glanced nervously to each other. She could almost make out Reno resisting the urge to cross his legs and grimace, thinking of what she was possibly capable of when angered. "Well? Are you guys coming or not? Or are you waiting for more security robots to show up?"

"Yes'am." They said in unison and they followed her into the President's office.

Or what was left of the President's office.

Since the explosion several years prior, and the fall of Meteor, it was a wonder in it of itself that they even made it up to the Shin-Ra Tower to begin with.

The entire city itself was overrun by debris. The force of Meteor being repelled by Holy and the Lifestream destroyed the very core of anything that it touched. Freeways shattered into pebbles, buildings were torn apart like a dead leaf being stepped on, people's lives were destroyed in an instant.

And the Shin-Ra building was no different. Once boasted as a demanding symbol against the helpless citizens of the Planet, was now nothing more than a disheveled shell of its former self, long forgotten by the rest of the world with time.

However much it was forgotten by the masses, there were still choice few who longed to plunder the resources and materials from the remains of the company tyrant, as much of the other citizens of Edge had done to the rest of Midgar to build the new city.

Paths through the debris had been made over the past two years by pillagers, gangs, curious citizens, whoever had the time and strength on their hands to infiltrate the remains of the building. And whoever had pilfered through, taking technology, furniture, weapons, had surprisingly built intricate make-shift staircases with whatever they could find to reach the holes that adorned the above floors if the actual staircases to the next level were blocked.

Climbing those make-shift staircases was probably just as hard as it was to build them, and by the time the three had made their way to the President's office, it was late into the night. The moon outside was wavering in and out of the gray clouds that whisked by and its faltering light made the shadows of the office shift and warp with the speed of the clouds above.

The rain pattered against the debris and reminded Tifa of the day Cloud left her by the church. Her mind tugged back, to her relief at that moment, as Reno spoke behind her.

"If this place was outta power for two years how the hell is the alarm goin' off, and the damn bots flyin' around, yo?"

"It's an electric company, haven't you ever heard of a back-up generator?" Tseng stepped across several boards that were haphazardly resting across a large gape in the floor. He could see down into several floors below and could almost make out his old office through the piles of garbage and waste around.

"We tripped the security system when we entered the incorrect code." Tifa slipped slightly as the rubble beneath her foot twisted and toppled over. She quickly balanced herself and the two Turks didn't even seem to notice this. "I wonder how much longer until more bots show up?"

"So tell me, sweet-cheeks, was it this easy ta break into the buildin' last time?" Reno laughed as he knocked bits of the ceiling off a computer terminal that lay on the ground with his nightstick.

"For us? Of course."

Reno squatted down, lifting the terminal off its side and he placed it on the remains of Rufus' oval desk. His slender fingers flicked the switch and the screen blinked on weakly behind a cracked monitor. Dust had been disturbed from the equipment and it fluttered about in the moonlight.

The other two clambered their way over to Reno, careful to avoid miss-stepping and plunging below several floors. They were silent as the electrical hum on the machine warmed up and flashed the famed Shin-Ra logo.

Tseng pushed Reno aside as he began to type through several screens of pop-up warnings and user authenticators. "I only hope there is useful information in here. Things sometimes are conveniently omitted in reports, or sometimes not even reported altogether."

Reno laughed quietly at this, shaking his head. "As much as yer by the book, Boss, ya do tend ta bend the rules a bit when it's in yer benefit, yo."

Tseng stayed quiet and the two could hear him swallow rather loudly, his mind going back to something in his past.

Reno was referring to a specific incident of course, though Tifa wasn't aware. "Oh boy, I hope this ain't a waste of time." Reno peered over Tseng's shoulder as a dialogue box flashed with red letters, warning the user of a terminal lock-out if Tseng entered one more incorrect password.

Tseng sat for a moment, and then swiftly typed in a word.

Tifa's eyes tried to follow the word in the moonlight and was able to catch the last part of it. 'lheim02'. She shuddered.

The red warning hue disappeared and a few more screens clicked around until the main program started. Tseng briefly typed in a few codes and the alarm system finally tapered off.

The three seemed to relax, but only slightly as Tseng finally worked his way into several slumbering files stored in the depths of its memory.

"Make yourselves comfortable, this might be a little bit."

Reno peered over at Tifa, her eyes a bit lost in thought. "Wanna go cause some trouble downstairs?"

She blinked, her mind going back to the present. She looked up at him and grinned slyly, the words he asked her flowing into her brain. Her interest had been piqued. "What kinda trouble you talkin' about?"

~*~*~

Reno grabbed a piece of rebar that was sticking out of a crumbled column that had only been there for aesthetic purposes in the past, as it obviously held no structural integrity to the building even now. He slammed it into a small bend between the hard door and its frame.

He used his weight against the rebar as leverage and pried the door open with relative ease. "That's how I do it. Not as flashy as yer way, but I get the job done, yeah?"

Tifa smirked, her arms folded across her chest, critiquing his method. She liked her way much better. Her way was rather therapeutic as it helped release pent up frustration and anger in the form of violence towards inanimate objects. Better than taking it out on a living being.

"Lemme show ya somethin', yo." He nodded into the room they stood before. "I think it'll be of interest to ya."

She lifted an eyebrow and she followed Reno into Tseng's old office.

Where pictures of loved ones and personalized bric-a-brac should have been displayed, there was nothing but dust and emptiness, and somehow Tifa wasn't all that surprised. His office looked as if it had been plundered through by outsiders after the fall of Meteor due it its lack of personalization and endearing charm that any other person would have in it, but the room was actually untouched by human hands for two years now.

It was exactly as he left it, save for the big hole in the ceiling above and a shattered window overlooking what used to be Sector 8.

"Sure is dull, ain't it?" Reno glanced over at Tifa who was looking around, frowning.

"It fits him, though."

"Ya know, Boss ain't such a cold hearted bastard thatcha probably think he is, yo."

"Oh really? Sure had me fooled." Tifa tilted her head at the Turk, an eyebrow raised in question.

He chuckled, walking over to Tseng's large wooden desk, the moonlight reflecting off of the goggles he wore across his forehead as he moved. A harsh tug on a drawer, and then a frown. "Locked, yo."

"What're you looking for?" Tifa passed by a bookcase that housed several books on Materia and JENOVA experiments. She pulled one out, not necessarily intending to read it, but more out of blind habit. When there was a bookcase, one just tends to rummage like a nosey neighbor, especially when one knows they won't get caught snooping. Dust puffed off of the book in a small cloud and Tifa pulled her head back, trying to avoid breathing in the evidence of neglect.

"Welp, sweet-cheeks, I'm lookin' for somethin' that was failed ta be delivered many years ago, yo." He squatted down, pulling something from beneath his goggles. It glimmered in the light of the moon behind them.

Tifa waited for him to continue as she slipped the book back in its home. She could hear the sound of metal scratching at metal, and she realized he was trying to pick the lock on his boss' desk.

Reno grunted slightly out of frustration as the lock was somewhat difficult to pick, to his surprise. "It's like he knew I was gonna break in here one day or somethin', yo."

She turned and stared at the top of his head as he continued busying himself with the lock. "What was failed to be delivered?" She began to grow a bit nervous but didn't let it show.

"Rude and I were ordered by Boss ta find two targets and bring 'em back alive, yo."

Tifa swallowed hard.

"Unfortunately, we failed. It was like findin' a needle in a haystack out there."

"...Where?"

"Outskirts of Midgar, yo. Eventually we just followed the trail of blood, but it was already too late." He tugged on the drawer with a bit of frustration, but then resumed scratching at the tumblers with the metal pick. "He...was already dead, yo."

Tifa wrapped her hands around her upper arms, a chill running through her spine. She closed her eyes, her fingers squeezing her flesh tightly, not wanting to let go of herself.

Reno continued, unaware of her sudden discomfort. "I've never seen Boss look so distraught, ya know? He had risked everything that day."

"What do you mean...?" Her voice came out soft.

"He disobeyed direct orders from the President, yo. We were ordered along with Shin-Ra troops ta mobilize and bring the escaped targets to a stop. And that usually means..." His voice trailed off, but then chuckled after a brief silence. "Well, ya know."

"Yes, I know how Shin-Ra works. You don't need to go into details about that."

"Heh, sorry sweet-cheeks. Boss ordered us ta bring 'em back alive 'cuz he had somethin' ta give the man. As much as Boss woulda denied it, he thought of the guy as a friend, or so I've been told, yo."

Tifa's mind floated back to the night before where they had been drowning their woe in alcohol. She vaguely recalled Tseng calling the man his friend and it almost made her smile. Almost.

"I guess it was a good thing that we failed in our secret mission Boss gave us. If we succeeded, who knows what woulda happened to us. The President woulda had us all executed and replaced faster than ya coulda blinked, for disobeyin' 'im." He shrugged quickly, and resumed picking. "At least, he woulda done that ta Tseng. We were just followin' orders, yo."

"Then...what happened to..._him_?"

"Welp, we got new orders from the President. After we radioed in that the targets were deceased, Boss got back ta us orderin' us ta collect the bodies for research, yo."

"Wait," Tifa processed this in her head quickly. "You said 'targets'."

"Yeah, we lied, yo."

"Why..would you lie for people you didn't even know?"

Reno stood up, frowning at her as if he were just slapped across the face. "Hey, we may be revered as a buncha ruthless, heartless meat-heads, but we're still human, yo."

"Then..."

"Yeah, the Shin-Ra troops didn't even bother with killin' Cloud. He was left for dead 'cuz he was so far gone 'cuz of the Mako poisonin', yo. They thought he'd just starve or somethin', or get attacked by monsters out in the wastelands. We spotted him crossin' the plains of Midgar afterward, but we never reported it. We just figured he'd be able ta finally live a life of normalcy after everythin' that happened. Boy were we wrong, yo."

Tifa scoffed inaudibly, her head turning to the side in offense.

Reno rubbed the back of his neck, frowning still. "I guess we were just doin' what the Boss woulda told us to do with Cloud, in the end. Let him live, ya know?"

"Did Tseng...ever work with Cloud, too?" Her eyes went back to his as she dug her fingernails into her arms.

"Yep. Several times."

Tifa nodded, understanding what Reno was trying to convey to her. "Tseng must've thought he had more friends than he let on."

Reno smiled a smile that was warm, comforting. It almost made him seem like the adult he pretended to be most of the time. But the smile quickly vanished as he continued the rest of his story. "We...had to collect the man's body, yo. We had ta bring him back to Nibelheim, the very place he had escaped from ten months prior."

Tifa closed her eyes in pain over what she was hearing.

"It was kept top secret, even Boss wasn't aware of what was goin' on, yo and he usually knows everythin'. All he was ordered ta do was retrieve the target for Professor Hojo and Hait. So, back he went to the start of it all, poor bastard. I've never seen two people be so excited over a dead body before, yo. Some sick and twisted shit."

"What...did you tell Hojo when you showed up with only one body in the end?"

"Do ya really wanna know what we told 'em, yo?"

Tifa processed this for a moment, and then shook her head. What the Turks had told Hojo in the end obviously was a lie, as Cloud was alive, but the thought of what the Turk could have said to her at that moment made a lump grow in her throat as if it were to be real. She knew that the Turks were good at what they did, and that including lying. It was probably a colorful story, all in wonderful gory detail, but her mind worked well enough on its own after some of the things she had seen in her life. So she pieced together an excuse in her own mind to satisfy the urge to know what they had really told Hojo in the end.

The two were then silent, the sound of the rain being the only thing filling the room. Tifa had always hated the rain. Each drop brought a sense of sadness and regret over her. It seemed that anytime it rained, there were tears to be spilled.

"Welp, sorry if I made ya upset or somethin', yo. Just thought you'd like ta hear it from the source." He squatted once again, resuming his feeble attempt at picking his boss' lock.

Tifa walked around to the front of the desk and Reno looked up at her with startled eyes as she reached down, grasping the handle in her gloved hand. He let out a small cry of surprise as he found himself losing his balance as Tifa with a single tug yanked the drawer from its confined prison, causing the lock Reno so diligently worked on to snap and break off inside.

"You really should try things my way next time." She grinned down at him as he blinked in shock.

"Y-yeah. I'll keep that in mind, yo." He stood, gathering himself, a bit embarrassed that she so easily got the drawer open with brute force alone. She was sort of attractive to him in her own respective way, but she wasn't really his type of woman. He couldn't imagine being in a relationship with someone he feared more often times than not. And Reno knew Cloud would probably have a problem with him if he were to move in on his woman anyway, because after all, she really was Cloud's as much as he and Tifa would both vehemently deny it.

After a few moments of rummaging around in a surprisingly cluttered drawer, the Turk's hand emerged, holding a strange box.

"Here this is it. Take it, yo."

Tifa hesitated at first, but stepped to the Turk slowly, and received the item with both hands gingerly. She studied the object, her hand passing over the top of it gently. The paper contents shifted inside.

It almost resembled a display case. It was the size of a shoe box, the bottom half a brushed black metal, the top half was a glass cover. A large piece of white tape was plastered across the middle with the words 'SEALED' on it.

Tifa couldn't count them all, but there were eighty-eight letters inside.

~*~*~

A shrill beep from the terminal and Tseng managed to pull up a hidden folder with several tries from security passwords he had knowledge of, some of which he wasn't even supposed to know. But espionage was a basic requirement for any Turk, and came with the job.

Tseng peered down several floors and went to shout to the two who he had spotted earlier through the hole in the floor, but he could no longer see them standing by the windows in his old office. He read on without them.

And then he stopped reading, his blood running cold in his body.

His eyes stared at the words on the flickering screen, the color draining from his face, his mouth hanging open in utter disbelief.

A shaking hand went to his breast pocket inside his suit and he fished out his phone blindly, his eyes never moving from the screen.

He somehow managed to dial the number he intended to call and the phone was brought to his ear slowly. With each ring, he felt himself slipping closer into fear, closer into losing his hardened composure.

"Rude?" Tseng's voice croaked out once the phone connected. "Is the President there with you?"

Rude confirmed with Tseng that Rufus was there.

"Good. Don't let him out of your sight." The leader of the Turks swallowed hard, a bead of sweat rolling down his skin lazily. His voice came out once more, and it surprised him by how it sounded nothing like him. But no one else was there with him, so he was sure it was himself speaking by default alone.

The words fell out of his mouth, unrehearsed, blunt. "He's a target for an assassination."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

...To be continued in Chapter Seven: Laugh Harder; Cry Harder

Ending Author's Note: Just wanted to say a quick thank you for all the great reviews I've been getting! They motivate me to no end, I can't get enough! ^_^! Hope some things are beginning to make sense, if they haven't already. Sorry, the last two chapters haven't had much action in it, but Chapter Seven has something interesting happen in it so stay tuned! And of course, the next chapter will be published on August 21st around Midnight (Pacific Standard Time), as usual! Thank you all, and keep those reviews comin'!

Update 8-15-09: I decided to explain the thing about the eighty-eight letters for those readers who haven't played Crisis Core. So the following contains SPOILERS for the game, but then again if you read my story until the end it will eventually explain itself anyway. But, read on if you wanna know right now.

SPOILERS: ...While Zack is confined in the Shin-Ra mansion for the four years, Aerith writes him eighty-nine letters. Only one actually reaches him while he's on the run, and it's her final letter as she seems to have given up on waiting for him. Tseng orders Reno, Rude and a Turk named Cissnei to find Zack and Cloud alive, because he has to deliver something to Zack. This something being the rest of Aerith's eighty-eight lonely letters. Of course, this special delivery never makes it to its recipient, as Zack obviously dies. It's...so sad, actually. Anyway, as most of the strange things I write that seem out of place, it'll come back into play later on, so keep those letters in mind. END SPOILERS.


	7. Chapter Seven: Laugh Harder Cry Harder

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Chapter Seven: Laugh Harder; Cry Harder

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Tired blue eyes stared up at a tiredly drab ceiling.

Tired blue eyes resisted closing and allowing a tiredly spent mind to drift off into the sleep it tiredly nagged at him for.

He wished his body would make up its mind as it was being awfully fickle and spoiled. First he was plagued with too much sleep, and now he was left with nothing but the memory of it in the cold cot, in the equally cold ship that he and the cot both coldly lay in. He frowned, having lost himself in this horribly rambling thought. Tired and cold were all he thought of.

Turning onto his side, he propped his head onto a folded arm, breathing out a discouraged sigh of sleeplessness. Then he flipped onto his back once more, and then found that to be equally as uncomfortable as the other positions, so he decided to flip onto his other side. That wasn't any better.

So he sat up.

Then he lay back down.

And then a few choice curse words.

And then silence.

And the silence was driving him crazy.

Over the past few years he had grown accustomed to falling asleep to at least some sort of noise. Back at the bar it was the sound of the children murmuring in their sleep across the hall, or the sound of the distant chatter of the city going about its business no matter what time of day or night it was. And even in the church in the slums he could hear the wind blowing through the shambled ceiling, and the sound of the flowers rustling against the grass as they swayed in the breeze.

But this. This was maddening.

There was nothing to focus his mind on, no tangible sound to wrap his thoughts on and have them whisked away with his consciousness.

The silence was causing his brain to make its own white noise and that didn't work well with someone who was cranky and irritable to begin with.

He felt like yelling at the silence to just shut up.

Whenever he couldn't sleep back home, Tifa always could tell from the sound of him fidgeting in his bed across the hall. She'd crawl out of the comfort of her own bed with Marlene, and she'd slip into his room with the proverbial glass of warm milk. At first Cloud thought it was rather humorous for her to do such a cliché act, and even teased her for it, but soon he found it to be a ritual they would have between themselves whenever sleep just seemed to not want to visit either one of them during the night. He would fidget, and she would bring him either a glass of milk, or a piece of toast. Something warm to soothe his stomach and muscles to help him sleep. They would chat a little about nothing really interesting as he munched, and she would eventually slip back into the hallway quietly as he began to drift off.

And after she was sure he was asleep, she would creep back into his room, dodging the tools he had lying around on the floor from the Fenrir, and she would kneel down besides him, resting her head against his mattress. She would often hold one-sided conversations with him as he slept, as if he would respond. And at first she scolded herself for doing such a seemingly silly thing, but after a while she realized it was her only way to confess things to him without having him actually hear her and possibly respond negatively to her in the way she feared he would.

But Cloud, of course, was only aware of the part up to the milk and toast.

And he wasn't aware that all of this musing was doing the trick, and he felt the familiar tug of sleep at his senses.

His mind raced with the last of the thoughts it could possibly spit out at him before it succumbed to the battle of slumber.

And then a beep disturbed the silence.

And once again, tired blue eyes stared up at the tiredly drab ceiling.

Another beep.

Cloud dragged his hand down his face. He had forgotten to turn his phone on silent before he attempted sleep and now he hated himself for it. He rolled off of the cot onto his feet and stumbled over to the small table in the living quarters where he had thrown some of his belongings on. His hand fought between several other items for his phone and he eventually found it in the darkness. He could hear the muffled beep in his hand as he brought the phone up, flipping it open.

A faint smile crawled across his lips as his eyes read the text message that was sent to him.

"'Digital warm milk and toast for you, just in case.'" Cloud read aloud, shaking his head. His thumb hit the button to respond to Tifa, but he just stared at the blank draft. He hit the 'abort' button and it brought up a warning stating that all changes would be lost if he were to abort the message. It asked if he was sure and his thumb hit the 'no' button, and he was brought back to the blank draft once more, staring at it for several moments.

He flipped the phone closed, sighing as he tossed it back down onto the table. He really had nothing to respond with, but just reading that message made him feel a bit at ease as he flopped back down onto the cold cot.

_Let's try this again. _He thought to himself.

And once again, his jumbled mind began to drift off to where it belonged at this time of night.

But then his phone rang, and he was suddenly letting out a cry of frustration. He gathered himself and stood, snatching the phone up in his hands angrily. He flipped it open, briefly glancing at the caller ID, the name not processing in his mind before he answered.

"Yeah?"

A low, male voice. It made Cloud jump, slightly startled. "I have information for you."

"Vincent?" Cloud asked, and he pulled the phone away from his ear and double checked the caller ID. "It's three in the morning."

"And yet you're wide awake."

This was true.

Vincent quietly continued. "Information, however, does not sleep."

This was also true.

But Cloud hated it when the man was so cryptic. "Yeah, apparently." He said dryly. "What is this about?"

"Five days ago there was an explosion a half mile outside of Kalm."

Cloud waited, impatiently.

"I went to investigate the explosion."

"You were in Kalm?" Cloud was surprised by this and it showed in his voice. Vincent always seemed to be in the right place at the right time.

"I stay there sometimes." Vincent's monotone voice showed an extremely slight sound of offensiveness, and Cloud picked up on that subtle change.

"Sorry. It's just that you told me that you hang around the Forgotten City I just assumed-"

"Contrary to what you may believe, Cloud, I don't sleep in a coffin anymore."

Cloud dropped the subject and nodded to the phone, although Vincent couldn't see this.

He continued. "It was the Turks. Their helicopter was shot down."

"Who...shot them down?"

"I didn't see myself. I arrived too late to aid them."

"Reno?"

"And Tseng, yes."

Cloud recalled both Reno and Tseng not being present earlier that evening. "How bad were they?"

"When I had arrived they were both unconscious. Rude and Elena were already there tending to them. They seemed stable, but no one had any answers. So I followed the tire tracks from the crash."

Cloud started to become nervous and he shifted on his feet uncomfortably. "What did you find?"

"Nothing."

Cloud tilted his head back, squeezing his eyes shut as he let out a very, very slow sigh through his nose. He began to lower the phone, but Vincent started to speak again, so it was brought right back up to his ear quickly.

"I paid the Turks a visit, however, two days later." Vincent fell silent, and Cloud had to check the screen on his phone to see if the call had been dropped. The in-call timer continued to do its job.

"It seems..." Vincent paused once more, and Cloud waited for him to speak as he tried to ignore his ever growing frustration. "...That your past has a hard time leaving you alone, Cloud."

Cloud swallowed. "Don't...you have that same problem, Vincent?"

"The past can never be revisited, only relived." He said simply.

Cloud scoffed. "Yeah, seems that way."

"Reno and Tseng were planning on investigating the Shin-Ra building for information tonight. It seems they have found something of interest."

"What?"

Vincent paused for a moment. "Hm...I'd rather not say over the phone."

"Where are you?"

"Kalm."

"And they told you this information themselves?"

Vincent let out an amused noise that could have been mistaken for a single chuckle. "Of course not."

"Then-"

"I have my source."

"Thanks Vincent, for the info. I'll meet you there soon."

"Cloud, one more thing."

Cloud waited quietly for him to continue.

"Tell Yuffie to stop having your children prank call me." And the phone clicked off.

Cloud was left in the dark room with the light of his phone flashing against his bewildered face.

~*~*~

Cloud slipped past the room that Cid had crashed in for the night quietly. He could hear the old pilot snoring rather loudly and it made Cloud comfortable knowing that he was in a deep sleep. He located the hanger room where the Fenrir rested for the night and he walked over it to, a feeling of excitement rising up in his chest, but soon was cut short as a thought occurred to him.

"Shit." He exclaimed, realizing that the hanger door was closed. Random button pressing time for Cloud at three a.m. now. He glanced around in the dark room, trying to locate a button panel or something that he could fool around with in hopes to open the door and make his nighttime escape. And he hoped that the noise it made wasn't that loud, in fear of waking Cid. The last thing he needed was an old angry pilot flying down there with a cigarette in his mouth nagging at him for trying to leave, like an angry father catching a child sneaking out a window past curfew.

He located a control panel near the door itself. Walking over to it, his eyes squinted in the dark, he made out a rather oddly shaped button compared to the rest. It wasn't a button, however.

Cloud scoffed a short laugh, peeling away a piece of paper taped to the correct button to open the hanger door. Cid's writing was rather messy.

He read it aloud. "'Press this one, dumb-ass.'" Cloud crumpled up the piece of paper and tossed it to the ground, shaking his head. A quick press of the button and the hanger door began to open slowly, the mechanical whirl of the gears filling the quiet stillness that had been previously driving Cloud mad.

And making even more noise that he longed to hear, the Fenrir let out its fearless growl before he sped off into the night, towards Kalm.

And above in a small room, Cid grinned to himself, having woken up to the sound of his ship being disturbed. The familiar noise of the gears turning in his ship made him open his eyes to that tiredly drab ceiling above. "Good luck, kid."

~*~*~

It was inevitable. The needle on the fuel gauge trembled on empty as if it were hanging onto the depleting fuel with all its might. It flashed an orange light, warning the driver that it was about to give up under such pressure, and it felt as if it were failing in its mission in life.

The needle, having an epiphany under such distress, suddenly felt that its new purpose in life was to be cursed at continuously by the blonde driver, and no longer felt like it had failed in its original purpose of hanging onto the tiny bit of gasoline sloshing around in the tank. It began to relax.

Cloud was unaware that his fuel gauge was taking on a new persona in life.

He was aware, however, that the Fenrir was in need of a good, long drink.

And what the inevitable part was, was not the gas depleting itself, but that fate sometimes was cruel and mocking.

Cloud pulled into the first refueling station he could find, which happened to be right around the corner from the Seventh Heaven.

He frowned, staring up at the stone angel that could be seen from the children's bedroom window from the bar, on top a building across the street. Turmoil began to swarm inside of his mind, debating with himself on whether he should drop in and see if everyone was alright.

He contemplated on why Yuffie had been with the children the night before, and it worried him even more. Partially because that meant Tifa was off doing something; probably something stupid; and that, well, it was _Yuffie_ babysitting. A child babysitting children? Weren't there laws about that sort of thing? He cringed at the mere thought.

It was decided. He had to check in to see if everything was alright and in one piece. The final deciding factor: Yuffie babysitting.

He filled up the Fenrir and it thanked him with its growling howl. He smirked to himself as several heads from people walking past on the streets turned to look at him and his bike as it purred. He pulled onto the street, accelerating, and the sound of the engine ripping through the space between the buildings filled his ears and calmed his ever growing nerves.

~*~*~

She knew that sound. It was unmistakable, and it caused the muscles in her heart to twitch, and the nerves in her extremities to dull and become numb. Her breathing quickened as she stared out the window in the children's bedroom, her hand pressed against the glass. But not in a longing way, she was actually cleaning the window.

And her brown eyes followed the familiar figure who pulled up on that familiar motorcycle. He cut the engine and sat up, removing the goggles across his face, and they fell around his neck carelessly.

Her heart began to race. She hadn't seen him in twenty days. But it was not like she was counting or anything, as that would just be silly of her.

Twenty long days of her being silly.

And there he was, swinging his legs off the Fenrir and approaching the bar as if he had only been gone for a few hours on a delivery. It almost made her angry, but just the mere sight of him, seeing that he was okay, drowned out any twinge of anger that suggested to surface in her heart.

She froze, not knowing what to do, or what he was going to do. So she stood and watched him, her hand mindlessly circling the glass with the cloth she was using and it just caused more streaks on the window than anything.

He didn't look up at the window as he walked to the front door. He reached up with his hand, but then retracted it reluctantly.

Tifa felt like pounding on the window, shouting him on to just open the door and come back to her as if she were a cheerleader on the sidelines. But her body refused to move.

Cloud stood there, shifting on his feet, and she could tell a million things were darting in his head as he had that familiar look of helplessness and apprehension. How she hated that look on his face.

Tifa suddenly could hear the children arguing downstairs in the bar about whose turn it was to sweep the floor. Denzel seemed to be winning in that dispute, and it caused Marlene to let out a high-pitched whine, and then the sound of her sweeping. Tifa glanced back down to Cloud whose hand was at his side now, and he wore a smirk on his face as he could hear the children bickering. Tifa could almost make out him chuckling, but she wasn't fully sure. Had she seen his teeth as he smiled? Had he even really smiled at all?

She didn't notice that he looked up, and saw her in the window.

Cloud turned, pulling his goggles back over his eyes as he climbed back onto the Fenrir.

Tifa's heart sank then and her hand slid down the window, causing a squeaking noise to cut through the still room. Her heartbeat slowed, as did her breathing as Cloud started the Fenrir, to her dismay.

_Please Cloud, don't leave again._

She watched as he paused for a moment, pulling something out of his pocket. His hands fiddled with that something briefly and Tifa couldn't make out what he was doing. The object in his hand returned back to his pocket.

Cloud then left.

Tifa closed her eyes, tears welling up in them. Her hands dropped to her sides as she stepped away from the window. She sat down on the bed she shared with Marlene and put her head in her hands, a few tears escaping. She hated crying over him.

_What's it gonna be this time, Cloud?_ She thought to herself. _Twenty more days?_

A quiet beep caught her attention and her hand dipped down into her pocket, removing her phone. She wiped the tears off her face as she opened the phone and read the text message through blurry eyes.

_'Thanks for the milk and toast the other night...And you missed a spot on the window.'_

Tifa laughed harder than she had laughed in a long time.

She also cried harder than she had cried in a long time.

~*~*~

"Well now," Rufus chuckled, "this is starting to get interesting."

"Sir, I really don't think you should be so lighthearted about this." Elena exclaimed, her mind reeling at the thought of Rufus being so casual after he was just informed that there was someone out to assassinate him. She glanced back to Reno and Tseng who just stood there.

"That's the President for ya." Reno shrugged his shoulders hopelessly.

"How can you guys be so relaxed about this?" Her voice was beginning to raise, but Tseng shot her a look, so she held her professionalism as best as she could given the circumstances.

Rude surprisingly spoke, and everyone turned their heads to look at him as he did this. "It wouldn't be the first time."

Rufus let out a long sigh that was borderline nostalgic. "It's the price one pays for being of Shinra blood. It's not the mere fact that I'm a target for an assassination that interests me, it's how it's planning on being done."

"Of course," Reno started, "it's gotta be flashy and extravagant. Nothin' but the finest for our President, yo." Reno and Rufus shared a chuckle over this.

"A-are...are you guys listening to this? Do you not hear what's being said?" Elena glanced at each one of her subordinates, and they resumed their stoic natures that drove her crazy sometimes. Turks were meant to be hardened; aloof; heartless; but this was just unbearable and unnecessary behavior.

"Elena," Tseng's voice cut through her and she cringed like a child being scolded, "if you are not confident in your ability to do your job, then-"

She cut him off, which she immediately regretted doing, but she couldn't take it. "I know I can do my job. It's uncouth behavior like this that makes me doubt in everyone else's ability to do their-"

Tseng was the one to cut her off now, and this time she shut her mouth for good. "Hostility and insubordination will not be tolerated, Elena."

She lowered her eyes to the ground.

Everyone stayed quiet for a moment, the uncomfortable aura that they all had been trying to avoid the entire time finally fell upon each person.

Reno did some nervous glancing between Rude and Tseng, then his eyes fell onto Rufus who just sat there with a rather bland look, as if someone just told him profit from the Weapons Division dipped a whopping two and a half percent from the previous fiscal year. It was an 'Oh, is that all?' type of look that suggested that none of his nerves were taught from this conversation.

"So..." Reno finally spoke and everyone but Elena looked up at him. "How would ya wanna go anyways, Boss?"

Rufus let out a rather rough, seemingly forced laugh which suggested that perhaps he wasn't as calm as he let on. "How else? In style, of course." He arrogantly and steadily flipped his hair out of his nervous, unsteady eyes.

~*~*~

_It's a selfish thing, what your friends have done._

Cloud gasped, his eyes shooting open and staring at the campfire in front of him.

_None of them are playing nice._

Wild eyes glanced around nervously, his heart pounding in his heaving chest. The voice was everywhere inside his head, but no where tangible in the space around him. Sephiroth? No...the voice was different.

_Now is that any way for them to treat a friend of a friend? _The voice was low, sinister.

His body froze in the darkness around him, and the heat of the campfire slipped away from his skin. Numbness.

"You...you're not...him..." His voice managed to squeak out.

_I just want to see you, Cloud. _It was beginning to take on a tone that was nothing short of lunacy and it reverberated in Cloud's mind, causing a queasy feeling to wash down his heart and stomach. It settled in his gut and boiled there, festering up into his chest each time the man spoke in his consciousness. He could feel his throat tightening up.

_We have so much catching up to do._

Cloud began to quake involuntarily, the sound of the clothes he wore rustling against his body. Through his muddled ears he could hear the faint tinkling noise of the wolf badge he adorned on his left shoulder through his shaking, and he tried focusing his mind on that particular noise to grip onto something in the air around him. But the trembling was too fierce, his mind beginning to slip into another world. He screamed inwardly, trying to will his body to stop moving on its own.

A blue flash coursed across his vision.

_I really wanna see you, my friend._

Muscles began to function, but in a way that suggested his brain had nothing to do with the impulses that were being sent down to the fibers in his body.

_I have something to show you. _And an uncomfortable cackle rolled from the owner of the sickening voice.

Everything around him warped.

His breathing came out in short gulps, as if thick oil were being drained down into his lungs, suffocating him. His eyes wildly darted down and he could see his own hand, through shifty vision, lifting up against the will he tried to summon, but failed.

_Remember this...? _The voice was deliriously playful, cunning.

Cloud's hand went up to the right side of his face on its own, his fingers one by one wrapping themselves around his forehead. He sat and watched helplessly as his mind refused to listen to his plea to stop. His ring finger began to dig into his eyelid below his brow, and his little finger pressed against his sinus, sending a strong pain coursing through his head. He let out a noise from his throat that sounded like a whimper; the pressure his own hand emitted into his head was astonishing.

_Remember my blood, Cloud?_

"S-stop..." His voice was weak, feeble. Unheard by anything and everything around him.

_Remember it? _The voice was becoming louder, more insistent.

Darkness began to creep into the corners of his eyes, his fingers continuing to dig into his flesh. Another noise coming from his throat that resembled pain.

_REMEMBER!? REMEMBER!!! _The voice was screaming.

Then all was silent.

Panting, very, heavy, panting. Sweat, chills, nausea. More trembling.

The pressure against his head began to subside and he managed to peel his own rigid fingers from off his face. He groaned slightly as he lifted his ring finger from deep against his eye socket, and opened his eye to blurred and spotted vision.

Cloud pulled his hand back slowly as a warm feeling suddenly enveloped the skin on his face. He blinked his right eye, feeling something trickle down it.

Blurred and spotted vision, however, was not enough to mask the all of the glistening blood.

"W-what the hell?" His voice came out panicked, as even though his head hurt from the pressure, it felt fairly unharmed and his mind tried to grasp onto where the blood could have been coming from.

Crimson poured off the right side of his face and down onto his shaking hands that were cupped together below his neck. He could feel the warmth slithering down, sliding against his skin and it sickened him.

It wouldn't stop.

More viscous fluid drizzling down.

His breathing quickened, his vision began to waver, his mind muddled and screaming.

His eyes fluttered closed, as his whole body was enveloped in blood. It flowed into his throat as he tried to scream, it soaked the clothes he wore and absorbed into his being.

Trashing, drowning.

The voice crawled back into his body.

_Where are you Cloud? I need your help! _Soft; pleading; kind; sane.

And then it was gone.

And then Cloud was left staring at the fire in front of him in the cold darkness of the plains between Midgar and Kalm. The only blood on him was an insignificant amount underneath his fingernails on his right hand.

Cloud blinked.

"What happened to your eye?"

Cloud blinked again. He was standing in front of Vincent in the middle of Kalm.

"What the hell!?" He spun around, his eyes frantically scanning his surroundings. Old buildings circled him, a cobblestone road beneath him, the old clock tower began to chime twelve times for noon. People laughed and carried about their business.

Vincent lifted an eyebrow at the hysteric blonde.

Cloud whipped back around, his eyes wide with confusion and fear. "H-how did...I...?" His head spun, his thoughts churning.

"Cloud." Vincent watched, almost helplessly as the man who he was just speaking with for the past ten minutes suddenly began to act nothing short of insane. And yet, Vincent wasn't that surprised.

With delusion filled eyes, Cloud looked up to Vincent with no color in his face, his mouth was parted slightly, his eyebrows arched. "This...isn't real?"

"If this isn't real, then one of us is dreaming. I don't believe it's me." He shifted on his feet, the red cloak around him swaying gently in the breeze Cloud failed to feel.

The clock tower continued to chime. It began to grow louder with each alert.

"I was...just...it was....night..." He rambled, his voice almost slurring as if he had been drinking. He almost wished he had been drinking, then maybe some of this might make some sense.

"Get a hold of yourself, Cloud."

How he was trying.

"You need to tell me what you're going to do."

"A-about what?"

"About the assassination."

"The what?" Cloud's eyes began to flutter closed once more, Vincent's voice becoming more distant.

"Rufus. He's going to be killed."

"What?"

He could hear Vincent clear his throat, almost a growling breath coming from his nose which followed. "Maybe you should consider getting some decent rest before you come and waste my time."

"Decent...rest? I was...sleeping."

He could feel his body beginning to fall forward. He heard Vincent shift towards him, the sound of his metal boots scraping against the cobblestone.

Cloud blinked.

He was staring at the campfire in front of him once more.

Cloud blinked again.

The night revealed itself to day.

Noon.

Cloud could hear the clock tower in the nearby Kalm chime twelve times.

~*~*~

Despite his consistent outward aloofness, Vincent had always hated waiting for people, although one could never tell by looking at his emotionless facade. Annoyance; contentment; fatigue; excitement; each emotion he held blended into one:

Nothing.

So when his expectant company finally flew into the quiet town on that motorcycle, disturbing the peace he held so revered in his mind, he bristled towards him in the most irritated scowl he could muster.

But Cloud couldn't tell the difference in that scowl from any of his other expressions, so he just assumed Vincent was casually and patiently waiting for him to arrive.

Cloud killed the engine and slid off the motorcycle in front of the man who leaned against the wall of the inn.

Vincent first noticed the dark blue bruise that was nestled against Cloud's right eye as he stopped in front of him. His face had scratches against his forehead and beneath his eye and made Vincent lift his brows in question.

"Don't ask me what happened to my eye." Cloud coldly said.

"I wasn't going to." Vincent coldly said in reply.

"Okay." Cloud nodded, satisfied.

"You look...tired."

"Don't ask me why."

"I wasn't going to."

"Okay." He nodded again, slightly less satisfied.

They stood in silence for a brief moment as a few people passed by and laughed amongst themselves, between the circling of the buildings around them.

Cloud glanced down to the cobblestone road beneath his feet, and his mind flashed back to the previous night/morning/whichever it really was.

"Have you been home lately?"

"Why...do you care?" Cloud peered at Vincent suspiciously, wondering why he would even ask such a thing.

"I've been told that you've been gone for quite some time."

"Can we just get to the point?" Cloud was quite irritated now. Almost as irritated as Vincent was, but he would never be able to tell.

Vincent opened his mouth to speak, but Cloud impatiently cut him off, wondering why he felt so angry all of the sudden.

"Rufus. Assassinated. Yeah, yeah, got it."

The ex-Turk was silent for a good two minutes and thirteen seconds, and the only reason why Cloud knew it was that long was because his eyes flickered up to the clock tower behind the buildings every-so-often. They just stood there staring at each other intently, one trying to mentally figure out the other, both miserably failing in doing so in this impossible attempt.

Cloud shook his head, as if apologizing. "Don't...ask me how I knew."

"I...wasn't going to."

"How...are they?" Cloud's eyes wavered up to the man in front of him.

"Besides being influenced by Yuffie to prank call my phone, I assume they're managing."

The thought of Vincent with a phone, and the fact that the children were playing jokes on him made Cloud chuckle inwardly, but kept his face emotionless.

Vincent, being somewhat of a similar spirit to Cloud in that sense, could hear his mind chuckle. Vincent grinned at Cloud behind an unmoving mouth, and Cloud looked up to Vincent once more, catching that non-existent smile.

Both were chuckling in their minds, as if they shared a laugh together like real people would around them.

But outwardly, they were silent and anyone else would have mistaken them for being strangers to each other, having just met in the town.

"She called me, and told me this."

A statement that made no sense if someone were just listening to the conversation, as it seemed out of place, but after the years of knowing Vincent and his unavoidable crypticness, Cloud knew who and what he was referring to.

_Tifa. _A quick tug at his heart, but he held his composure.

"Vincent, what more do you know about this?" He demanded.

The man spoke, his voice very low and Cloud had to take a step closer to hear him through the chatter around. "Project Z."

"..." Was Cloud's reply.

"I'm assuming you've already been informed of this."

"More...or less. Yeah." Maybe a bit more than he would have cared for, and yet not enough. His mind ached for more information, yet screamed at him to stop when he flooded it with what it was asking for. Fickle and spoiled once more.

"It seems," he paused briefly, gathering his thoughts, "that Shin-Ra indulged in more experiments for the past several years."

They both seemed to cringe at the word, both having been so lucky to witness such things firsthand.

"A certain SOLDIER operative had caught the attention of several members from the Science Department three years ago after this one individual took out more than two thousand Shin-Ra infantrymen single handedly over the course of ten months."

This was the longest sentence that Cloud had ever heard Vincent say, and if it hadn't been for noticing that fact, Cloud would have probably been curled up in a fetal position on the ground preparing for where this conversation was heading.

"And in the course of one hour, he slaughtered an army of five hundred and fifty-seven men with his sword alone in his final stand."

Cloud's response was more uncomfortable silence.

"Shin-Ra could not let something like that slip through their grasps."

"'Something like _him_.'" Cloud corrected Vincent quickly, angrily.

"My apologizes, but as you are well aware, Shin-Ra doesn't view humans as humans, but as monsters and specimens."

Cloud's mouth twitched at this, and he could feel his eyebrow quiver in suppressed ire. "But you're not Shin-Ra anymore. So say it right."

Vincent let out a short 'hmph' as a reply. One apology was enough from him for the rest of the day, and Cloud would just have to understand that. He spoke once more however. "As much as Shin-Ra laid waste to the Planet, they did manage to be resourceful, but all in the morally wrong areas."

"You can skip this part, I know what happens."

Vincent actually let out an amused chuckle. "Recycling bodies is a far stretch from helping the Planet."

Cloud cringed once more.

Maybe he should have tacked on another apology after that, but Vincent refrained. "Hojo had originally deemed the SOLDIER as a failed experiment in Sephiroth cloning five years prior, but his brother Hait saw a potential in him for something more sinister, even in death."

Now things were starting to connect in Cloud's brain, despite the fact that it was spinning around in a jumbled dance, and it showed on his face. His mouth dropped open, agape, his blue eyes trying to fixate on the man in front of him, but failed. His breathing was scarce, as was his heartbeat.

His voice followed suit in scarceness, joining in the parade of Cloud's emotions. "What does this have to do with the assassination against Rufus?"

"It would be rather hard to blame a dead man for the murder of the President of the world, wouldn't it?" Vincent said, simply.

"Are you saying that this Hait guy went through years of experiments on one person just so he could have him assassinate Rufus?"

"Seems that way."

"Doesn't this all seem a bit convoluted for just a hired hit?!" Cloud shouted that louder than he intended, and several heads turned to look at the two. They continued on, however, as Vincent shot them an icy look that put a few gray hairs on their unsuspecting heads.

Vincent frowned at Cloud, but the blonde couldn't see the look as the high collar of his cloak concealed his mouth. "The fact that it just happens to have an inevitable connection to you, is an unfortunate ripple in the pond."

Cloud's eyes fell to the ground, his mouth opening for a reply, but came up short. His mind instinctively wandered to Tifa, his thoughts trying to fabricate something that she would so easily and wittingly respond with.

Much to Cloud's annoyance at times, Tifa had an unnerving habit to always have something to say; always had her two Gil to put into a conversation and when she did it was usually right. It drove him crazy sometimes, as she could never leave things alone whether she pretended to or not. Even if she held in her thoughts at a single moment, they always seemed to fall from her mouth sooner or later, and it was usually later when Cloud felt as if he were to break. Her words were harsh at times, but they were the truth and that glazed over the tears and cracks in his mind, smoothing out his consciousness if only a little. Everything she said stuck in his mind whether he wanted them to or not.

And Cloud surprisingly shared an inside joke with the children about Tifa and her uncanny ability to speak the right things. It started as a small comment made by Marlene as she played with a talking doll on a pull-string. She commented that the doll always knew what to say and when to say it and unexpectedly made Cloud laugh as his mind of course went to Tifa. It was not much of a laugh, but a laugh nonetheless and each of the children stared at him wide eyed in utter shock at this, and they pressed on with the joking to see how far they could get him to lowering his defenses. They continued with their joking, and as many children do, they tried too hard and it became a little less funny each time, but Cloud smiled at them out of respect and played along.

But what started all three of them laughing was when they realized that the doll resembled Tifa a bit, and from that point on when Tifa would start to lecture or nag the three would mimic pulling a string on a talking doll's back as if they were making Tifa say these things that they found to be so pretentious or boring. It lightened the mood if not caused the children to break out into fits of laughter as she stood there nagging at them, and it always angered Tifa to think that they were undermining her adultness.

Unbeknownst to Tifa, they did always listened to her, but the sight of Cloud mimicking pulling a string behind her back as he stood behind her oftentimes as she lectured, was a sight worth laughing at and risk getting deeper into trouble.

If Tifa found out, she would kick his ass for it, but then relax as the thought of Cloud interacting with the children without her help would please her. But from that point on if their secret would been discovered, she would probably never let Cloud stand behind her back while she disciplined the children ever again.

But at this point Cloud tried to scratch at his memory for a response to the blunt statement Vincent had made, but failed. He wished he had his Tifa doll with him, she would know what to say. Was he thinking of dolls? Was he...longing for Tifa again?

Cloud shook his head, shaking the amusing memory away, until a strange thought occurred to him. "Why did Tifa decide to tell you all of this?"

Vincent stood there for a moment, thinking. He sucked in a short breath to speak. "Because she knew you would come to me for this information, and not her."

The lightheartedness that played across his mind from the previous memory was gone now, and was replaced by a feeling of remorse and shame. This showed as his eyes flickered down to the ground again. He took an odd mental note of how particularly shiny Vincent's metal boots were today, and he could see a contorted reflection of himself in them. The dark bruise set deep in his eyelid was a rather ghastly sight and even surprised him, having only seen it just now. Evidence of the oddity that was his night. His right arm twitched slightly, involuntarily.

Vincent caught this, no matter how slight it was.

"What happened, Cloud?" Vincent peered at him with those piercing eyes and it actually made the blonde uncomfortable.

Cloud bit the inside of his cheek, wanting to avoid this conversation altogether now. "Nothing. Don't worry about it."

"I'm not worried."

"Okay."

They were going in circles and they stood there, fidgeting in each other's presence. Cloud felt like he had enough of this and began to turn to walk away abruptly.

"Thanks, Vincent." Cloud simply said.

"Cloud," Vincent started, and Cloud turned once more to look at him with a lifted eyebrow, "don't keep her waiting too long."

Cloud's mouth dropped open, but then closed, suppressing a slight smirk that suggested to break out on his face. "Yeah. I won't." He began to lift his right hand as a 'goodbye', but instead found himself unsheathing his sword from his back, and spinning, bringing his weapon down upon Vincent, sending crimson from the movement of his cloak and his blood spraying across Cloud's vision.

~*~*~

The blood danced through the air, the tiny droplets wavering in the wind as they moved as if in slow motion; suspended in time. With each fleeting drop held whispers of experiences, memories and existence, all now lost and forgotten to the greedy earth below.

The scenery was distorted, blurry as they flooded past when he shifted through the infinity around. He could feel each drop of moisture in the air hitting heightened emotions, each inhale of oxygen inflating burning lungs, pushing against an equally burning chest.

A flash of silver across a startled friend and then more blood dripping onto the cobblestone below. Wild amber eyes flickered up to meet the wild green eyes that were facing him, disarranged, lost.

A movement filled with red, and the ex-Turk floated in the slowed air around them, an extended image of himself being stretched out in an extraordinary reflection of time and space.

Cloud could see it all so clearly in his idle surroundings, and it frightened him to his core, snapping the small shred of perception and soundness he had left in his psyche. It was like watching hell itself pass by, allowing him to peek into what could be a fate in his destined path.

The blonde lunged forward, his eyes fluctuating between his blue and green, fluctuating between his stability and pure insanity.

He could hear the frightened screams of people around him and it stabbed into his ears, bouncing back and forth in his haywire mind. Each scream sent impulses down into his muscles to continue moving, to continue attacking a bewildered Vincent. Unable to complete a single thought in his mind, he was unable to stop himself.

Vincent had jumped up onto the roof of the Inn and he soon found Cloud following gracefully, not missing a single moment in between that Vincent so desperately tried to make. He flew backwards, feeling the cold wind of Cloud swinging his sword so blindly, yet precisely around, nervous that the swordsman would hit his mark again.

He ignored the stinging pain against his chin where Cloud had managed to scrape him with the tip of his sword, and he could feel the warm liquid run down his neck and beneath his cloak. Patience was running thin, his hand itching to remove his Death Penalty from its holster and aim it at the crazed friend before him.

"Get a hold of yourself, Cloud!" Vincent shouted, demanding and firm.

Cloud's response was another silver slash of the sword at his gut.

Dodging easily, Vincent jumped across to another building, crumbling weathered shingles under his weight as he landed. He gained his footing and turned to stare back at the disheveled mind before him, a mind much like his own.

Chaotic.

"Don't let it consume you, Cloud." He said calmly, his hand finally going to the butt of his gun, removing it smoothly from the leather holster on his hip. The sound of the gun cocking seemed to be ignored by the blonde on the Inn.

Cloud began to swing his sword above his head and he glowed with a blue hue of light.

Vincent glanced down to the surrounding crowd on the ground with frightened looks, then back up to Cloud who was preparing to send Blade Beam his way. It was Cloud or the townspeople.

One last try with words. "Don't fall to being a puppet again!"

Cloud blinked, his green eyes being returned to blue.

But it was too late. A final swing of Cloud's arm and his attack flew off the tip of his sword.

Vincent aimed.

And in that slowed space, Cloud watched as he could see the silver bullet tumble along the lands and grooves of the barrel of the gun as it exited. It trailed a plume of gunpowder and heat behind.

_We are both puppets, Cloud. _That voice again.

Cloud uttered no sound as he began to fall back as the voice echoed in his mind. His eyes traced along the sky, watching as the beam of energy dissipated into the air above, and watching as the blue sky suddenly turned blinding white.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

...To be continued in Chapter Eight: Refractions of a Past

Ending Author's Note: Hello! Heehee, the final fight scene here was originally at the beginning of Chapter Eight, but seeing as some of my readers were getting fidgety I threw it in at the end. Sorry for those who have been expecting the mysterious man lately, but I enjoy teasing, and I'm long winded therefore I write about strange stuff (e.g. the personified fuel gauge having an epiphany). As some of you should realize by now, this isn't a one-shot (obviously) and I take my sweet ass time with development. ^_~ BUT! He will be in the next chapter, and the one after that, so that should atone for my sin, right? And I apologize if Vincent seems out of character. He is actually extremely hard for me to write and I studied up on his dialogue from Derge of Cerberus for his scenes (and scenes to come!). In short, I tried my best with him. *shrug* Oh! Shameless plug time! I've published the first chapter of my first ZackXCloud story on here last night called "Malady"! So if you enjoy my writing style, and want a ZXC fic with a twisted plot, please read! It's gonna have yummy lemons sometime soon. Anyway, next chapter will be of course published Friday August 28th! See you then!! Now go review!


	8. Chapter Eight: Refractions of a Past

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Chapter Eight: Refractions of a Past

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Tifa hushed the fussing children as one clung to her leg, burying her face into her waist sobbing quietly, and the other stood silently next to her, trying to tear his eyes away from the sight in front of him. She glanced over to the boy and grasped him firmly by the head, pulling him against her roughly as she pressed his face into her side, trying to shield him.

"Shit, what the hell did you do!?" Barret's angered voice pierced through the scared silence around, causing the children to stiffen at the sound.

"I did what I had to do." Replied a cold voice as it slipped inside the Seventh Heaven carrying a very heavy blonde package over his shoulder.

Marlene let out a muffled wail against Tifa's clothes and she could feel the little girl's tears soak into her skin. Tifa was absorbing the girl's emotions and tried to dumb down the tears in herself that suggested to flow along. "It's okay, sweetie, it's okay." She cooed.

"Where?" Said the cold voice.

"Upstairs, in his room." Tifa whispered, trying to cover each of the children's ears. "Don't let them see him."

"Papa what happened to Cloud? Why is he bleeding?!" Marlene screeched finally, peeling her eyes away from Tifa to look up at her father who smiled weakly at her, as if reassuring her.

"Dun you worry, 'kay baby girl?" He walked over and kneeled down, taking the crying girl from Tifa's waist and huddled close to her. His artificial hand smoothed down the back of her head and down her little braid, making soothing noises into her ear. He nervously glanced up at Tifa who turned her attention to the quivering boy besides her.

"Hey, how about Papa takes you guys out for some ice cream, hm?" She smiled sweetly at Denzel who lifted his head, trying to force back the tears he would have vehemently denied that were there, but Tifa knew better.

"I don't want ice cream. I wanna see Cloud." He whispered up to her, his small hands clutching her shirt. "He's been gone for so long and now he's finally here. Don't you want to see him too, Tifa?"

"Cloud needs a nap right now, okay Denzel?" She kneeled down, brushing her hand up against his face and he pulled back slightly by the touch. "After he wakes up you can see him. He just needs some sleep, okay?" Her kind eyes left the boy and switched over to horror as she watched Vincent swiftly pass with Cloud swung over his shoulder lifelessly. Vincent's cloak was soaked with Cloud's blood and it mingled with the red fabric. He ascended up the stairs gracefully, finally disappearing from the sight of the children.

"I'm not stupid, Tifa!" Denzel shouted, stomping down an angered foot. "He's not taking a nap, he's hurt!"

Denzel's shouting was upsetting Marlene more and she began to wail uncontrollably into Barret's chest at those words, and Tifa was then lost in a sea of crying, angry children.

"Barret, get them out of here for now, please." She pleaded.

Barret nodded and scooped Marlene up in his arms as she buried her face in his thick neck. She clutched the ends of his cornrows on the base of his head and he grimaced slightly at the tugging. "Denzel c'mon. Let's go for a walk, yeah?" He held out his free arm for the boy to take, and he did reluctantly. "Ya may not think it sounds good right now, but ice cream'll cheer ya up, a'wight?"

"Can we bring some back for Cloud, Papa?" Marlene sniffled, looking at her father with watery eyes. "He likes the kind with chocolate chips."

This wasn't true, as Cloud didn't care too much for sweets but tolerated it for the sake of the happiness of the children on the rare occasions that they would get to go out for a frozen treat. Whatever would shut the cute nagging and whining up he personally felt. But he would never let them in on that secret as it would probably crush their little spirits.

"Uh...we'll see. Let's leave Momma to take care of Cloud." He shot Tifa a questionable look mouthing the words 'Chocolate chips, really?' before he slipped out of the bar with the two fussy children.

Tifa waited until the door closed before she scrambled up the stairs, her legs shaking with fear and confusion. She flew into Cloud's paperwork and tool cluttered room, slamming the door open with her strength and it caused Vincent to actually jump ever-so-slightly.

"What the hell happened!?" She screeched.

He winced at her high-pitched voice and responded to her calmly, hoping that his demeanor would be carried over to her. "I did what I had to do."

She rushed to the side of his bed as Cloud lay there, his right shoulder wrapped in a blood soaked cloth. "You shot him!?"

"I believe I've said this already. I did what I had to do to stop him."

"And what did you do to his eye!?"

"That...wasn't me."

Tifa knelt down, running her hand tenderly over his forehead. His skin was clammy and warm. "My god, he's burning up."

"I didn't have much Materia with me, but I did what I could to aid him with what I had. He lost a lot of blood once he fell off the roof of the Inn..." He trailed off, shifting uncomfortably as Tifa shot him a look that pierced right through his chest. Maybe he should have worded it differently. "But I managed to get the bullet out of his shoulder, however." He added, in his defense.

"What a saint." She said harshly, her hand briefly stopping at his neck to check his heart rate. "You couldn't of stopped him any other way?"

"Cloud is not a force to be taken lightly and there were other lives at stake I had to consider as well."

Tifa knew this was true, but her mind was too jumbled to really accept that. She kneeled silently, watching as Cloud lay there motionless, save for several beads of sweat that ran down his face. Her hand continued to unconsciously stroke his face along his jawline with the back of her hand, and Vincent couldn't help but smile inwardly at this tender sight.

Was Cloud the only one oblivious of Tifa's feelings towards him? He could be such a clueless fool sometimes. Vincent even knew that the children were well aware of Tifa's struggle with her feelings towards the naive blonde, as did everyone else in his life. And yet Cloud went from day to day seemingly blind to her subtle advances towards more than being 'just friends' when she interacted with him.

Of course Cloud knew, as he was no fool, but he was actually too scared to act upon the possibility of letting someone, especially Tifa, into his heart beyond the 'just friends' point. Perhaps Vincent was the only one to suspect that that was the true reason for his idle activity in the matter, out of everyone else who only saw him as a clueless, stubborn idiot.

"What the hell happened out there?" Tifa's brown eyes turned to look at Vincent, who just stood there silently, his metal claw curling into a ball as she inquired.

He spoke after a moment of carefully wording his thoughts this time, not wanting to upset her. "It seems that the puppet master was having some fun with one of his puppets."

Tifa let out a sound of disgust and he realized that it wasn't worded as well as he thought it was. Of course, Vincent was never really good at speaking delicately, and Tifa couldn't really blame him for this. He _was_ a Turk in his past, after all.

~*~*~

His voice was hoarse by the time he was finished explaining everything to Tifa, which was a bit humorous seeing as he didn't really say much of anything at all. This of course suggested that anything more than ten sentences was too much for his underused vocal chords, so Tifa took that as her cue to cease her questioning.

Vincent escaped through Cloud's window as she left to get some medical supplies from the bathroom.

She wasn't surprised that he was gone when she returned to the room and carried on tending to the blonde as if Vincent was never even there.

And that's the way he liked it. As if he was never there.

He jumped along the rooftops of Edge, the sound of his cloak flapping behind him in the wind eased his nerves a bit, and he enjoyed the feeling of the breeze through his hair.

His chin was stinging and he realized he was so engrossed in saving Cloud that he forgot about his own injury. It had long closed during the ride back to Edge from Kalm but the dried blood still was caking his skin and it was an annoying feeling.

But what had been a good feeling was the freedom he felt on Cloud's bike as he was the one to drive it back to the city. It was liberating, and he then realized why the blonde was so attached to it. He hadn't felt that relaxed in a long time, even as he held onto an unconscious Cloud the entire drive back.

The feeling reminded him of being with _her_ and being in lov...

He frowned at himself.

He thought of Hojo and that quickly suppressed any fleeting emotions of long forgotten bliss.

Then he thought of Hait.

Not a man he worked too closely with during his time involved in the JENOVA Project with Hojo and Lucrecia. Hait was just a young assistant during that time who scurried about being constantly ridiculed by Hojo in everything he did.

Timid and meek were only two of the eight words Vincent could have used to describe the man, who was then nothing but a boy of maybe seventeen, if not younger. He appeared to be a rather ordinary person compared to his older brother Hojo, and on few occasions actually held decent conversations with Vincent down in the Shin-Ra Mansion as they worked.

Hojo berated the boy almost as often as he let out that nefarious cackle that sent a constant aggravating shock down Vincent's spine. And each time it caused the boy to retreat into a muttering world of self loathing and turmoil. Why did he remind Vincent of a certain blonde man...?

Vincent frowned, feeling guilty of thinking ill of Cloud more than once in an evening. He had a strict rule of thinking negative thoughts of everyone only once in a day, and tried to stick with that as much as he could to deter and teeter away from so easily being irritated with everyone around him by thoughts alone. Somehow he managed to fill that self induced quota quite efficiently tonight the more he was around people. He made a mental note to stay away from human contact for several days to reset his feelings towards humanity, to at least back down to neutral.

However outwardly feeble Hait had displayed himself to be, as Vincent's mind went back to his past, he was undoubtedly quite the young genius. And perhaps this was why Hojo held such discontent to the boy and belittled him any chance he was able.

Then again that was typical of Hojo, as he did that with everyone, even Lucrecia and later his son, Sephiroth.

And Hait's sharp cognitive abilities were certified in one instant.

He had been in love with a young girl from Nibelheim named Eden. She was a pretty little thing, but very young. It was a bit of a tragic tale to watch, as he longed to be close to her, but her father had forbidden it, seeing as he was a member of Shin-Ra, despite his age, and involved in the strange activities that took place in the Mansion that the villagers were so shrouded from, and feared.

Hait had met Eden out on the water tower one night, and Vincent was instructed by Lucrecia to stand watch in the shadows, observing silently.

~*~*~

_"Sorry I'm late." Her tiny voice cut through the softness of the night as she reached the water tower in the dark. Her small feet crunched the pebbles and dirt underneath her and it caused a young boy to turn. "But if Father had caught me sneaking out to see you, he'd kill us both."_

_"I-I won't k-keep you long." The boy stammered, but not out of nervousness, it was just something he started to do as he progressively endured the harsh berating from Hojo throughout the years. Hojo had that effect on people._

_"It's okay, Father is asleep."_

_Green eyes of innocence peered into black eyes of unguided sin, hiding the youth that was taken away from him so easily._

_"Um..." she started, pushing her reddish auburn hair out of her freckled face, shyly darting her eyes away. "What was it that you wanted to talk to me about, Hait?"_

_He was beginning to lose his nerve and he stood there, shifting uncomfortably in his lab coat which was a bit too big for him. "E-Eden...I-I uh..." A shaking hand went to the back of his neck, fingers sifting through short black hair. _

_She waited patiently, plush lips parting in an understanding smile. _

_"I-I have something to g-give you."_

_Lips parted more now. "Really?" A quick intake of air and she filled her lungs with excitement. How she loved surprises, and especially from him. They weren't the normal surprises one would expect from a boy his age. Flowers, plush bears, all of that didn't interest her, and she was thankful that he understood that as it didn't interest him either._

_"D-don't tell a-anyone that I f-f-found this." A skittish hand was shoved into the lab coat and quickly produced a bright, shiny red orb._

_The light of the moon above reflected into the orb and cast a refraction of light onto his palm as he held it out for her. The light danced across her wide eyes._

_"A Summon!" She reached out with hesitant hands and received it, bringing it close to her chest lovingly. "Where did you find this?"_

_"Th-that doesn't m-matter."_

_She giggled quietly, squeezing the warm Materia in her slender hands. "Thank you, Hait."_

_He nodded silently, letting an awkward smile drizzle across his uncertain face._

_She spun around gleefully, the pink skirt around her legs fluttering up in the mountain breeze that whisked by. "I can't wait to use it!"_

_Hait began to discipline her in its use. "Now E-Eden, d-don't use it unless y-you have m-m-more practice."_

_She stuck her spin into the dirt and faced him, pouting those plush lips that Hait loved to look at. She really was so cute. "Oh, Haitie!"_

_He hated that nickname, but tolerated it just for her. It was his only shred of connection to her that meant that she cared enough for him to name him something special. If one wanted to consider such a trite nickname to be special._

_"Y-y-you didn't e-e-even ask which o-one it was."_

_She took a step towards him, and he took one back, nervous. "I already know which one it is, silly. It's strong...and...warm, like the sun."_

_He smiled gently down at her, but even his smile seemed to stutter._

_"Ifrit."_

_He nodded._

_Her voice suddenly came out a bit loud and he hushed her as she spoke. "I wanna try it out right now!" She took off running then, to his surprise, and left him standing by the water tower blinking in confusion._

_"E-Eden!" He turned and began to chase after her, down the path towards Mt. Nibel. "W-wait up!"_

_Not being a very physically active being, he had a hard time keeping up after her as her slender legs carried her up the beginnings of the treacherous trail. To his horror, he could already see the monsters lurking around in the dark, making scurrying noises as they darted back and forth across the path impatiently, as if they were readying their hunger for prey._

_A plead for her to stop was ignored by the jubilant girl as she blindly traversed her way deeper into the heart of the mountain. She released blissful laughs into the cold air, as if oblivious to the dangers around._

_"Eden, s-slow down!" He had to stop, his lungs were shouting at him with fire, and he leaned up against a boulder once the muscles in his legs decided to fail him. He tried sucking in air through his burning throat, the feeling of the sweat running down his skin reminding him all too clearly of the reason why he chose to follow in his brother's footsteps rather than attempt to join SOLIDER or the Turks. He was not built for such strenuous and exerting activities, even if it meant spending more time with the girl whom he loved._

_"Hurry up, Hait! I want to pick the perfect monster to summon Ifrit with! I don't want you to miss it, okay?" She trotted up to him, not even having broken a sweat out on her youthful face. Green eyes peered at him worriedly, but not worried enough to realize the dangers of what she was trying to get herself into._

_"Y-y-you can't j-just come out h-here and attack m-monsters! You're i-inexperienced!"_

_"Then why did you give it to me, Hait?"_

_He regained his composure after a moment of rest and stood, smiling at her weakly through a moistened face. "I-I c-c-couldn't wait t-to see you s-smile."_

_"Oh! You!" She feigned embarrassment over his remark and shoved him playfully against his shoulder. "If you didn't think I could handle this, then you wouldn't of given it to me, Hait! You know that I'm strong enough!" She left his side suddenly and he reached out to stop her, but the amount of energy in that thirteen year old body of hers was astounding._

_With the sounds of the monsters lurking, the young girl stopped in the middle of the path, gripping the orb in her palm tightly. She closed her eyes, drawing in energy it took to summon the mystical creature._

_And in an unbelievable display of inferno and fervor, the creature emerged, manifesting itself from the depths of Hell. Its thunderous roar pierced through the still night, the air wavering around it from the immense heat of its being. Saliva dribbled from its jagged teeth as it lunged forward, emitting flames from its fists as it incinerated several unsuspecting monsters on the path with a single blow._

_And the fire reflected in the eyes of the two young humans who witnessed this amazing scene before them._

_"I told you I could do it, Haitie!" She giggled gleefully, spinning around to face him._

_"E-Eden, call it back n-now!" He watched as the Summon turned its gaze on the two. _

_"There's still more monsters!" She protested, ignoring the growing heat behind her._

_"EDEN!" Hait screamed as the powerful Summon loomed behind, raising its mighty fist into the air above her. It struck her._

_Hait saw a figure dart in front of him, blocking him from the creature, and blocking him from the darkness that took over his mind._

~*~*~

_"Ifrit are creatures who revere themselves to be superior to humans." A young Vincent spoke, placing a hand on the shoulder of a distraught boy. "They resent the humans that are able to capture them, and harness their magical power for their own benefit."_

_Hait's hand was pressed against a Mako chamber, staring into the lifeless face of the girl he loved, who hung onto life by a frayed thread. "T-then how are s-some able to wield such a S-S-Summon?"_

_The two turned as sinister voice spoke behind. "It's about strength and will. And this girl lacked that. She simply couldn't control it. No matter, she will make for an interesting experiment, however." Hojo stood behind, one arm crossed against his chest, the other pushing up the slipping glasses on his upturned nose._

_"W-what are you g-gonna do, b-brother?" Hait asked quietly, listening to the bubbling noise of the Mako behind him._

_"I'm not going to waste my time on this girl. That will be up to you, whatever you decided to do with her. I'm merely going to provide the resources." He shrugged, casually shaking his head. "A warning to you, however. Daddy will come looking for his daughter sooner or later."_

_Hait turned back around, his hand pressing against the glass of the chamber once more._

_"Turk." Hojo spoke curtly._

_Vincent stiffened, his hands straight down at this sides, awaiting the order to come._

_"If the father comes meddling around, kill him."_

_"Understood."_

_Hait did not flinch at this, he did not hear it, he did not feel anything. He just stared longingly into the void that was Eden's face._

_Vincent had to carry out that order three days later._

~*~*~

_For five months Hait holed himself up against the one Mako chamber, going over the notes of his brother in any experiment he had ever conducted. The girl hung onto her wavering life for those months, dangerously walking along the path of final darkness and infinite light. _

_Gallons of Mako had absorbed into her, slowly strengthening her body, regenerating the torn muscles, repairing the damaged nerves. But gradually it soaked into her memory, and destroyed her psyche._

_And when she was released onto the stone floor of the basement, she collapsed into a heap of her former self. The once animate green eyes were now clouded with confusion and uncertainty. The once strong spirit flowing from her that filled Hait with what he could only assume was happiness, was replaced with nothing but a tormenting void. She was gone._

_And in his mind, he had been the one to kill her. He had been the one to destroy her light, her soul. He was the one who brought her to the point of despair, to the point of hollowness._

_She lay there broken and heaving from the Mako that poured from every orifice on her tiny body. Hait was the one to support her, mentally and physically. He held onto her, helping her stand, and he held onto her as she fell. He spoke to her impressionable mind, helping her slowly regain the broken pieces of her shattered life._

_As the days went on, she gradually began to become human again._

_"Where....is...Father?" She looked up at him with sad eyes as he held onto her arm tightly._

_His heart dropped, his breathing ceased. An overwhelming sense of disgrace crossed his mind, looking down at the shattered girl he loved. He stared down into her face that was teetering on drowning in ambiguity and hesitancy._

_"Y-you...don't have a f-father." He lied._

_Her face began to fall, the emotions of sadness instinctively flowing over her muddled soul. "I...see."_

_A tug at Hait's breaking heart. He failed to even think as he spoke, his hands going up to her delicate chin, lifting her head so her Mako soaked eyes could look into his. He spoke with conviction, confidence. "I'm all you need, Eden. You are mine now, and I will take care of you."_

_"I'm....yours?"_

_He nodded._

_She repeated herself and the words filled Hait's darkening soul with a twisted light. "I'm yours."_

_A crack of a grin crossed his face, the unfamiliar feeling of empowerment coursing through his jumbled heart. "Yes. Mine."_

~*~*~

_Like a mindless doll over the months, Eden's blank sanity became the infatuation of the once meek boy, and he twisted her being to feed his own ego and appeasement. A perverse satisfaction of being able to manipulate the once broken girl into thinking and believing everything he said to her filled his heart and mind._

_And much to Vincent's distaste, Hait was becoming more like his brother as the days went on. He stood back and watched slowly as the boy's soul contorted with the achievement of molding the girl into whomever he wanted._

_That was when Vincent noticed that Hait's stutter just simply disappeared._

_Soon the girl was strong enough to be human again on her own, even if her memories and disposition were fabricated and structured to that of the desire of Hait. And she worked alongside him as his assistant, oblivious of the lie that was her existence. She wasn't aware of anything else, and seemed content to live her life with him in the Shin-Ra basement with Hojo and Lucrecia._

_But soon a rivalry formed between the brothers as Hait was becoming increasingly more intelligent as the year went on. Needless to say Hojo held more than disdain for his brother, and soon casted him off in the shadows from the JENOVA Project. Pride and intelligence were the only thing Hojo had, and he wasn't about to allow his brother surpass him in those elements._

_So Hait, along with Eden, were sent away to Midgar to work at the Shin-Ra building at the request of Hojo, and the acknowledgment of a young Ravel Mahler._

~*~*~

Vincent was always one to tumble into the past rather easily, much to his disappointment and aversion, and he tugged his mind back to his traversing before musing overcame him.

His face continued its emotionless anatomy as he glided over the rooftops of Edge, nearing the outskirts with only the sound of his long cape flapping behind in his ears.

A silhouetted figure on the rooftops before him; a dramatic backdrop of the moon behind.

Vincent stopped, kicking up several shingles on an unsuspecting rooftop beneath his armored feet. Amber eyes trailed up the figure, squinting as a silver flash of light dashed across his vision, the moonlight rolling off a thirsty blade.

"Long time...no see."

A calm composure blanketed a small whirlwind of uncertainty in the ex-Turk. Narrowing eyes crawled over the man, attempting to dissect what little information he could draw from him from just sight and speech alone. The moonlight was of no help behind the person before him.

"You must have the wrong person." Vincent coolly replied, the fingers on his metal claw each taking a respective turn curling into his palm with heavy unease. "I don't believe we've met."

An ominous cackle.

A familiar, ominous cackle that sent that familiar ominous shock through Vincent's spine.

~*~*~

It was blinding again.

And in the sheer white of the dream, he could hear his heart beating again.

It relaxed him this time. It coaxed his unsettled spirit from beneath the turmoil, in which it hid, up forth to the air around. It seeped from his body in a display of tender warmth, disappearing into the white.

He surveyed the void around for her with eager eyes, hoping to catch a glimpse of her flowing light in the darkness that was his soul.

Alone.

He began to walk, the footsteps that should have been there null to his senses, null to the churning emotions in his mind. With each step the empty scenery around continued to pass by him wordlessly, ignoring the pleading thoughts in his head that he screamed out to it.

He wanted to find her. He wanted to just see her once so that she could soothe the disquietude of his being with just one angelic smile. One smile filled with the balance of serenity and paradise that he ached to have for himself.

For just one benign touch from her warmth would settle everything about him. Every one of those frayed links in his mind would be smoothed over in a brilliant array of empathy.

She reminded him what it felt like to be human when he would fall to the feral creature inside.

And as he walked along the blinding path, the horizon broke into his vision with splash of green and yellow.

Her flowers.

He began to run, his eyes unblinking to the growing patch of stability and comfort before him.

He could see a figure standing in the field of flowers.

And he ran, and ran.

The blinding white began to fold into darkness before him as the figure stood by idly.

He could feel himself nearing the figure as his vision went black; he could feel the flowers brushing up against his legs as he reached her.

And as he stopped running, he could feel the figure press her head up against his chest lovingly, earnestly. A delicate hand pressed against his beating heart and he could hear her release a sigh of warmth into his soul.

"You've been gone for too long, Cloud."

_I've been gone? _He thought, picking apart the voice that was speaking against him. He could feel her hand curling against him as she spoke so affectionately to him, almost cooing to him in a way that reminded him of his mother.

"You had us worried."

_Us?_

"I didn't know what to tell them. It was hard." He could feel her face gently nuzzling into him.

He began to scream at the darkness in his vision to slither away so he could see the woman before him, so he could bask in her light and glory.

"Please, don't leave me...like that again...Cloud..." Her voice trailed off, her body falling against his as if she fell into a slumber.

_But you were the one who left me, Aerith..._

His hand reached up instinctively and brushed along long, sensuous hair.

It was warm, enchanting against his chest.

~*~*~

His mind began denying the voice in front of him, as it did not match the physique of its owner. Long spiky hair crowned an unfamiliar face, and yet that irrefutable laugh probed at every memory he had of the suspected owner. His cold heart wrenched and twisted with his stomach.

"How long has it been?" A short pause. "Thirty-one years?" The voice was carried from the throat of the man who actually seemed to not even speak the words that were being said from him.

"Thirty-two, actually." Vincent corrected the man, flicking the cape from off of his right shoulder, allowing the cool kiss of the night to touch the metal of the Death Penalty. Fingers on his right gloved hand now took turns curling as they hovered above the butt of the gun, holstered in its unsettled home.

The man stepped forward, allowing his youthful yet hauntingly disturbed features reveal themselves to Vincent who stood in nothing short of disbelief.

"Who is this man, Hait?" Vincent demanded to the man, but not speaking directly to the physical being in front of him.

"You know, I actually helped save you all those years ago." The man's lips moved, but his eyes were disconnected from what he was saying. "Lucrecia wasn't able to do it on her own. Her emotions toyed with her sense of judgment."

Vincent listened mutely, the muscles in his arm instinctively twitching with a restless aura above his weapon.

"I had to stand watch over her during the experiments to revive you. Her strong will seemed to crack as she watched you die for her and her unborn child."

"I'm in your debt." Vincent replied blandly, almost sarcastically.

A gloved hand waved in front of a blank face, going through the motions of the conversation, but the eyes were void. "Don't misinterpret that to have been a sign of forgiveness. I merely participated in the experiment for research and experience purposes only."

"And why would I need your forgiveness?" He inquired, his eyes narrowing once more at this statement.

The man laughed, his mouth curling up mindlessly into a delirious grin. "It's because of you that Eden suffered!"

Amber eyes replied with silence, his mind disconnecting itself from the conversation at that exact moment. There really was no sense in conversing with a crazy person.

"It's because you failed to protect us that she was nearly slaughtered by that Summon!"

More silence in return.

"It's your fault she died on that day! It's your fault that she became nothing more than a mindless puppet!!"

Vincent scoffed, his mouth hidden behind the collar of his cloak widening at this remark from the man before him. "And what about you?" Vincent was no longer speaking to the voice, but the form in front of him.

Empty eyes blinked, the insane smile on his face slowly lowering to a soft nothing, his face wiping clean of any disturbance of emotion. "A-about...me?" His voice was different now. Young, lost, confused.

"You are nothing more than a tool for immorality and corruption. A vessel for sin. Can you live with that?"

Pain-filled eyes blinked delicately, gently. A jumbled mind lowered with tired shoulders. A stumbled spirit faltered before him. "Live..."

~*~*~

_"You are nothing more than a tool for immorality and corruption..."_

This tugged at his hazy senses, the words blowing away the darkness with a chilling breath.

_"Can you live with that?"_

"No..." A hoarse voice replied from burning lungs.

Mako eyes fluttered open to yet another drab ceiling. It disappeared as quick as it came, his eyes squeezed shut in reaction to the tearing pain in his shoulder. It followed with a sharp throb of his head. Attempts to stir up a memory of anything remained futile in his muddled state, surrounded by the looming presence of immense spasms of unrelenting pain.

But warmth. He could feel a warm sensation over his labored chest. It felt comforting, reassuring with a gentle wash of enchantment that brought a sense of absolute terror to him.

He forced his eyes open again, his left arm lifting up slowly to the woman who lay nuzzled against his chest. Faint breathing, almost snoring, filled his ears then as his groggy senses cleared, his hand brushing up naturally, instinctively against soft hair. He flinched involuntarily as his heart beat fluctuated in his chest, his touch seemingly heightened by the pain in his nerves.

Tifa was resting against him, her arms curled up on his chest, her head laying peacefully on them for support. Her breathing was slowed, her eyebrows arched in an innocent expression that would have made Cloud smile if he had the strength to. His hand was moving on its own as a thousand words were flowing through his brain. The entangled mess of thoughts were blocking his defenses, allowing such an affectionate, yet vulnerable motion to come from him, oblivious to his own action.

She stirred as his touch passed over her numerous times, rousing her from her light sleep. "Welcome home, Cloud."

Her whisper was loud against his ears and it snapped into his brain, permitting his mind to process his situation, and to analyze the hand that was caressing her face so tenderly now. His blood stopped frozen in his veins, causing his hand to follow suit.

She hated herself for speaking then, as the hand was retracted with a murmur of an apology from his parched throat. She lifted herself up slowly, careful not to disturb the consistent pain in his body and agitate it more as she moved. She was a bit embarrassed over falling asleep against him.

She looked as if she had been crying.

"Why are your eyes red?" He so blatantly asked, watching as she sat up straight in the chair she had pulled over from his desk. He watched as she rubbed a lithe hand across her eyes as if trying to wipe away the evidence. Unsuccessful, of course, but she had tried her hardest.

"That's a rude thing to ask the person who has been taking care of you so loyally throughout the night." She tossed her head to the side, feigning annoyance.

He knew her reaction was fake, but a sense of guilt still played across his mind. "Sorry." Another apologetic mumble.

His eyes flickered closed as she passed a cool hand across his forehead suddenly.

"Temperature's down. Do you...remember what happened?"

The sense of him having done something wrong was hovering above him, and the look on her face registered his suspicions. He simply nodded, lying, having remembered absolutely nothing. There may have been a small chance that she knew nothing herself and was merely asking him out of curiosity. The less she knew the better, of course.

But of course, despite all the hopes he conjured up wishing that she was blissfully unaware of the incident were dashed as she spoke, her voice taking on a concerned tone that instantly worried him of what he couldn't remember.

"Vincent said...that you couldn't control yourself." Her hands fell to her lap, squeezing her palms in unsteady fists. "You...were being manipulated by someone again."

He waited for a flash of memory to erupt into his brain unwillingly, but nothing ever came. He was almost pleasantly surprised. He swallowed uncomfortably.

"Thirsty?" She cooed softly.

He nodded weakly, hoping that this pathetic display of feebleness would cause her to get up and leave the room if only for a moment. This was the last place he longed to be. He wanted to escape, to run with his tail between his legs, to run from that before mentioned enchanting feeling he so horrifyingly experienced not moments before. He was confused at his emotions, as his heart told him this is where he needed to be, but his brain was arguing irrefutably with him, telling him that he needed to run; he needed to not bring this into Tifa's life again. She had suffered enough by his hands.

Warm brown eyes stared down at him from behind sultry lashes. The small table lamp on his desk casted a glow on her that was soft and benign. She seemed so strong at that moment, staring down at him with nothing less of concern and devotion for him.

God he was so undeserving of her.

Or so he at least thought.

"Gin and tonic?" She joked.

He tried to chuckle, but refrained as an unbelievable pain coursed through his upper body, centered in his shoulder, and it fanned out to the rest of his being.

"I'll get some water for you in a minute."

_Shit_, he thought, _I can't run from this._

She opened her mouth to speak, her eyes shifting uncomfortably off to the side of his room. "Cloud..." She began, but her mouth closed at a physical loss for words. There were words of course in her mind, but none that dared to rear their heads around to him at that moment. She wanted to ask him so many things, wanted to flood his brain with questions, lectures, ranting and tears, but she just didn't.

"I'm sorry." He blurted out through a breathless gasp as pain began to subside momentarily.

Her eyes shot back to him, locking on him as if he had just told her the meaning of life. This being forty-two, of course. "For what?"

Damn, he was hoping that would be enough for her. He hadn't really thought ahead as to why he just apologized to her, and yet he knew that answer all along. He almost wished at that moment that he would pass out from the pain to avoid the conversation. But fate was cruel and he stayed more than conscious to the situation.

"For hurting you like this." There. He said it.

_I know you're sorry, Cloud; Please, don't apologize to me; Ya damn right you're sorry pal!; I'm sorry too; If you know you're hurting me this bad, then why do you do it?; I love you, Cloud. _All were possible things to say to him at that moment that floated into her brain as she stared down at the weary man lying broken before her.

Instead, she just shook her head, dismissing any sort of blame on anyone or anything. Dismissing...she was good at that so she stuck with it.

She resisted the urge to take his hand in hers and squeeze as hard as she could, never wanting to let go as she asked him the question she was fearing.

"So...what now, Cloud?" Tears began to form into the back of her eye, ready to flow on her cue. They waited patiently for the opportune moment.

He could see the tears scurrying about, assembling backstage in her eyes and he wanted to reach up and pull her close, whispering to those emotions to come back another time. She hardly ever cried, hardly ever let him see her weak and prone to inconsistency and anxiety. Those tears didn't belong in those eyes of hers, and he was mad at himself for being the one who had put them there.

She was always the one to lend him strength when he would become weak. She was always the one to help hold him up with he felt as if he were to fall. Always there to share a loving smile, always there to watch him sort of smile back in his awkward way. Just knowing that she was a phone call away, and on rare occasions, across the hall, when he was feeling down or confused put an ease in his mind and heart that hardly anything or anyone else could.

Tifa was becoming Cloud's new reliable source of strength and comfort whether he realized this or not.

"I have to face my past again."

"Alone?"

Silence was his reply. The lyrical sound of the children conversing across the hall flowed into the room, filling the gap between their conversation.

"Can't it...be 'us'...? Can't we do it together, Cloud?"

"I don't want you to be caught up in this, Tifa."

Tifa shook her head, squeezing her eyes shut in denial. "Cloud, I don't care about that! I want to help you through this," she paused, the next few words just stumbling from her mouth, "I want to be the one to protect you this time."

He lay there for a moment, his breathing a bit ragged, but from the injuries or the topic of the conversation, Tifa couldn't tell.

"I'm not worth protecting." He finally whispered, his eyes closing in a shame that was unwarranted in being there.

She took in a very prolonged breath through her nose, her shoulders raising as she did this. She looked as if she was going to release that breath in the form of a scream, or at least a throw of a fist. But she just let it out slowly, steadily.

"You can be so selfish, you know that?" She stood calmly, her hands brushing down her shorts to smooth them out.

He turned his head to watch her as she headed for the door. "Tifa?" He slid up, propping his upper body on shaking elbows.

Her back was to him, her fists down at her sides and he could see that they were trembling with either remorse or anger. Her voice cracked slightly as she spoke, but she so quickly leveled it out. "You don't even realize that this situation effects more people than just you." She slammed the door behind her, leaving him flinching from the noise, and then writhing in sheer pain.

~*~*~

The man was waving his sword around feverously, a rabid scream flowing from his throat with each swing. He stood in one place however, as if he were attacking an invisible force before him, or trying to attack something _in_ him. Frantic whimper like cries fell from his throat as he reached up with one hand, holding his head in nothing short of a symbol of panic and erratic psyche.

Vincent stood and watched.

The man's hand lowered from his face, shaking, and his Mako eyes trailed up Vincent. His face looked helpless then. "...Kill...Shinra..."

Vincent tilted his head off to the side slightly. "Hait is using you."

"H-Hait? Using...me?" His head twitched at the name.

"The voice in your head."

"I...need help..." He let out a cry of anguish, his sword stabbing into the rooftop as he sunk to his knees. "Stop...the voice..."

"Were you the one controlling Cloud?"

"Controlling...Cloud..." His face was buried in gloved hands, twisting his upper body from side to side as if he were denying everything around him. He repeated the blonde's name several times, each time his breathing coming under control, his hands lowering from his face once more. He looked up to Vincent, his eyes seemingly normal. "Do ya know Cloud, kid!?" His voice was no longer erratic, but his speech was suddenly...strange and oddly familiar.

Vincent stayed silent, watching as he rose to his feet once more.

"I need ta find 'im." His voice was soft and pleading. "I dun have much time, kid."

"You need to answer a few things first."

He shook his head, his eyes closing. "I dunno nuthin'."

"Where is Hait?" Vincent probed.

"I dunno."

"Do you know what he's after?"

"I dunno."

"Do you know Ravel Mahler?"

"I dunno!" His voice was beginning to rise.

Vincent stopped, sensing he was on the brink of pushing the man over the edge again. He watched as the man's hand went up to the hilt of his sword, but he didn't unsheathe it from the rooftop.

"You were an experiment of Hait for the past few years. The soul purpose of resurrecting you was to assassinate the President of Shin-Ra."

This didn't seem to effect him in the least as he continued to stand there, unmoving.

"You've been broken. Hait has the upper hand."

"I...dun wanna be a puppet." He muttered, his head lowering.

"What's your name?"

He replied with silence.

Vincent scoffed a single laugh, shifting his position slightly, as if readying himself. "Until you figure that out, you'll continue to be a puppet against your will. Courtesy of JENOVA."

"JEN...OVA?" He looked up at Vincent, a dubious expression on his face.

~*~*~

One leg out of the window.

That's how he was caught.

And Tifa stood there in the doorway, her arms crossed against her chest, a foot tapping against the floor. "And where do you think you're going?"

Cloud knew he should have waited until after his escape to waste time healing himself. And now he was awkwardly positioned with his hands above on the window frame, one leg swung over the sill with a sheepish expression plastered over a guilty face.

"Isn't this a bit desperate, even for _you_, Cloud?" A cool, male voice from the hallway.

His leg was slowly retracted back in, the sheepish expression slowly slid away.

Reno stepped into his room besides Tifa, a smirk playing across his face. "Be a man, just leave through the front door, yo."

"Then get out of my way." Cloud coolly replied walking towards the two.

Neither moved.

"Makes it hard to leave through the front door when you both are blocking my path."

"Cloud..." Tifa said calmly, her arms going up to grasp his, but he pulled back. Her hands lowered down to her sides. "Please, just think things through. At least let us help a little bit."

"You wouldn't be of any help."

She chose to ignore this painful statement and continued speaking. "We're here for you, Cloud. We're your friends, don't cast us aside."  
"Hey, speak for yerself, I'm only here on orders, yo. I could care less about this idiot's problems." Reno placed his arms behind his head, peering at Cloud through partially lying eyes.

"Orders?" Cloud questioned.

Tifa glanced to him, confused by this statement as well.

"Boss ordered me to kidnap ya."

Cloud actually laughed at this, but in a mocking tone. "_Kidnap_?"  
Reno laughed too, shaking his head. "Nah, just some recruitin'. Seems like we're gonna do a little V.P. Huntin', yo. Wanted ta see if ya'd like ta join the party."

"Not interested."

"Aw c'mon Cloud! Don't be that way! Dun ya care 'bout the President, yo?" He stepped to the right as Cloud attempted to dart around him and blocked him.

"Why would I possibly care about Rufus? It makes no difference to me whether he lives or dies. He's not signin' my paychecks anymore." This was true, and Reno couldn't rebuttal this after everything Rufus Shinra and Shin-Ra itself as a company had done. It would take a lot for Shin-Ra to wash its sins from Cloud and many of the other citizens of Gaia.

"Maybe we'll run into yer friend, yo." He baited.

Cloud peered at him emotionless. That blank stare made Reno uncomfortable and he shifted nervously on his feet, trying to anticipate Cloud's next move.

Which, of course, he had no time to guess as Cloud suddenly grasped him by the scruff of his already disheveled collar and lifted him from the ground.

"Cloud!" Tifa squealed, shuffling off to the side as he suddenly tossed the Turk against the wall. Reno slammed against the hard surface, causing a few picture frames in the room to shift awkwardly. The sound resonated throughout the house and they could hear the children gasp collectively from their room across the hall.

Cloud resisted the urge to wince as he tore open the wound in his shoulder as he exerted himself. Blood began to run down his arm, but he ignored it. Pain began to swarm into him, but he ignored that too.

Reno was sputtering, coughing, and smoothing out his already wrinkled shirt all at the same time. "What the hell was that for, yo!?" He coughed out.

"I'm being a man. I'm leaving through the front door." Cloud swiftly left down the stairs, the sound of his boots thumping down the wooden steps. He left a trail of dripping blood on the ground behind him.

Cloud's pace quickened as he heard four separate pairs of legs scrambling down the stairs after him. Four?

And he heard his name being called from four separate voices.

He turned briefly as he watched Marlene and Denzel being the first ones down the stairs after hearing the commotion. The little girl was crying already as she ran straight into his waist, throwing her arms around him.

"Don't leave us again Cloud!" She was sobbing against his clothes, her little muffled voice being lost in fabric.

And to Cloud's utter surprise, Denzel joined her at his waist.

Cloud stared down at the two children who were squeezing him rather hard. Which normally wouldn't of bothered him if he hadn't of just fallen off a two story roof in Kalm. He was admittedly sore in several places. _Everywhere_ being the first place.

Denzel spoke this time as Marlene cried besides him. He was sniveling into Cloud's stomach. Cloud was expecting him to say something along the lines of the things Marlene would say. 'Don't leave us'; 'We miss you'; 'Take me with you'. But what he said next left Cloud speechless, dumbfounded, and guilty as hell.

"Don't hurt Tifa like this again, Cloud."

All Cloud managed in return was a small stutter of protest and shock. He didn't notice Tifa and Reno who were at the bar, watching.

"Denzel, I'm not going to hurt Tifa." Cloud managed to pry the two children away and mustered the best tender expression he could make given he wasn't very good at this sort of thing, especially with children.

"Yeah huh!" Marlene glared at him, her bottom lip forced out in a pout. It was awfully cute, even though she was directing her child hostility towards him. "Every time you leave Tifa is sad! She doesn't like us to know, but we can tell!"

Cloud squatted down in front of them, placing a hand on Marlene's shoulder. He lowered his voice to the best soothing tone he could. "Marlene, I promise I won't hurt her, and I promise I will be back soon, okay?"

"Liar!" Denzel wiped his face quickly of the remaining tears as anger began to take over his young emotions. "When Cloud lies, his eyes dart to the right, remember Marlene?"

Damn these kids were too sharp for Cloud's own good.

Marlene agreed and they both stood in front of him, crossing their little arms over their little chests.

"I'm not lying. I'll be back, okay?" His eyes remained stationary against theirs.

They both gave each other looks of suspicion and Cloud was becoming frustrated. He really wanted to get the hell out of there and resolve whatever was going on so he could come back to them as quick as possible.

This was when he first realized that he really did miss them as a family.

~*~*~

"Shit."

The drone of the empty reactor besides him continued to pound into his heightened senses, tearing through his eardrums relentlessly.

"I lost him momentarily."

A hand rummaged through a nap-sack and brought forth a syringe filled with a green substance. Teeth plucked off the cap on the needle tip, and it was spit out into the dormant abyss besides him. A flick of a finger against the glass caused the substance inside to tremble, then settle.

The needle was thrust into taut skin of an arm. A shaking hand depressed the plunger and the substance flowed into screaming veins.

"Let's see if I can get 'Z' back. He's proven to be quite stubborn. No wonder he was a labeled by Hojo as a failed Sephiroth Clone."

Black eyes closed, a chilling breath escaping from lungs.

The cells crawled out of his veins and soaked into the fibers in his body. They nestled into his muscles, into his brain, into every millimeter of his own human experiment. JENOVA's infinite energy, wisdom and malice coursed through him.

"Even after death, 'Z' still proves to have a strong will."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

...To be continued in Chapter Nine: Traitorous Son.

Ending Author's Note: Flashbacks are bound to happen, sorry people. Heh. I tried to make it as brief as possible as some of you fidgety readers out there were hopin' for the mysterious man. Well, like I promised there he is. And he will be in the next two chapters even!! Wewts! I'm getting nervous, I could end this rather quickly to tell you guys the truth! I'm only a few chapters ahead of ya. Trying to think of things to prolong the inevitable is proving to be quite difficult. And I apologize for Hait's stutter as that might have been a bit annoying to read through, but I felt it helped play into his character of being meek, and then confident after he twisted Eden to his desires and it stopped. Thus launching him into crazy Hojo-like insanity. Hopefully you guys picked up on that, as well as who was actually in Cloud's dream at the end. XD Still no Aerith. Bwahahaa I do so love torturing Cloud. (But it's okay, Cloud will strangle for singles. Get the glitter and camera ready Jason, I think Cloud is going after Frank Caliendo next...! Sorry, inside joke. XD)

Tune in next week on Friday September 4th for the next chapter! And for all you Clack lovers, read my story "Malady" if you haven't started already!

OH!!!! I've been meaning to ask this for the past several chapters but always forget!!! I published this story under the "Drama/Hurt/Comfort" genre, but now I'm not exactly sure if it's appropriate. When I had first started this, I had no idea where this story was gonna go, and how far it was gonna go either. (Yes, I will admit, I am in the dark as much as you guys are over my own story! Hah!) Anyone think it should be listed as something different? Thanks!!! Smoochies.

-Ziggy


	9. Chapter Nine: Traitorous Son

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Chapter Nine: Traitorous Son

Quick Author's Note: This chapter is based off of Before Crisis, the mobile FFVII game that's only in Japan. So you can consider some of the information in this a SPOILER to the mobile game. But unless you live in Japan with a cell phone that's subscribed to this game, you'll probably never get to play it so just deal with the SPOILER (unless there's an emulator for it??? Is there!?). You won't really need to know anything about Before Crisis, as I will explain at the end. Enjoy.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Extended assignment overseas?"

"Yes, that's what you'll tell people where the Vice-President is, if they inquire."

The round face of President Shinra was being rubbed by his stubby fingers. A vein was protruding from his temple as his already low frown lowered even more under the canopy of a blonde mustache. "Sounds vague."

"Sir, just trust me. People won't question further."

"I trust you, Mahler."

"Thank you sir, as you should."

"I can't even trust my own son, however." A scoff and his large belly shook beneath a tight red suit. It was an amusing sight to see this, as the suit was one size too small, and his belly was one size too big. The puckering buttons screamed this fact.

"Yes, his traitorous actions towards Shin-Ra is abominable. To think for so long that he was funding AVALANCHE with your company's money, just to have you assassinated."

The President just shook his head, smoothing out his mustache before shoving a rather fat cigar into his rather fat mouth. "Seems a bit convoluted for just a hired hit." He muttered.

Ravel Mahler reached up and lit the cigar for him with a lighter he already had prepared in his eager palm. "Your other son Lazard seems level, however. Perhaps you should consider placing him as your V.P. instead of Director of SOLDIER."

"No, no. That would cause too much suspicion in the public. It's bad enough I was shot in Junon during my speech." The cigar was removed between scissored fingers. "Lazard is slightly less incompetent than Rufus, but still nonetheless an idiot. I can't trust him with my company."

They shared a dry, business-like chuckle over this.

"But sir, if I may be so forward," Mahler began, "your son's actions should not go unpunished. Keeping it outside of the public eye is of course necessary. We wouldn't want the citizens to be aware that the Vice-President of Shin-Ra was the soul benefactor to that eco-terrorist group, but a simple 'house arrest' in Junon does seems a bit lenient, even for you, sir."

An uproarious guffaw came from the round man as he sat back in his executive chair with a leathery squeak. "Are you claiming me to be tenacious, Mahler?"

"I'm merely saying that your actions sometimes are known to be a bit more..." Mahler paused for a moment, trying to formulate the term in his head without it sounding so barbaric. "...Ironfisted."

More guffaws from the President that eventually sounded like a warking from a Chocobo, but a lot less endearing and charming. "My dear Mahler, you misunderstand me."

"Oh?"

"Leading with an iron fist is expected of every man with power. However, behind that man with the iron fist is a man who is ruled and governed by money."

"Money does make the world go around." Mahler put so matter-of-factly, which made the old man grin a devilish grin.

"Which is exactly what my son tried to do."

"The Banora apple doesn't fall from the tree, I suppose." His brown-nosing proverbs were on a sharp roll today.

"Yes, so in a way, I'm proud of him."

Mahler frowned thoughtfully at this, trying to hide his ever growing irritancies towards this moron of a president. If Rufus was his son and he were President, he would have had him executed already instead of a putting him under a pathetically meager 'house arrest'. Seemed more like 'Daddy' was grounding 'Junior' for sneaking a few 'brewskies' into his room behind his back.

Good-for-nothing Turks should have just killed Rufus like he bribed them to.

He had to come up with another way, since the Turks couldn't be trusted.

~*~*~

After worming his way into the President's unsettled mind about his own son attempting to assassinate him, the President eventually gave into Mahler's executive and professional advice to appoint a successor to the Vice-Presidency.

It didn't take much more worming to have President Shinra appoint Ravel Mahler as said successor.

It was only natural of him to do so, after everything Mahler had done for the ever growing company. For twenty-nine years he stood by Shin-Ra, starting as a coffee fetching yes-man for the Administration office, to a legal advisor for the Urban Development Department, then a financial advisor for the Science Department. Soon growing in the prestigious ranks to eventually become a member of the Presidential Advisory Board once his acute attention to detail, and money-making prowess of course, caught the Board's eye.

One hired hit later on the current head of the Presidential Advisory Board, and Ravel Mahler soon wormed his way into that position as well.

A bit undeserving, but his callous nature he felt, merited to be in such an esteemed position. Who could possibly be more suited?

No one, really.

The company was just one big giant snake run by little tinier snakes in comparison. One enormous, monopolized cesspool slithering with fat business men with fat appetites for fat wads of money.

Ravel Mahler did fit into Shin-Ra quite nicely.

~*~*~

Footsteps were muffled against a rather luxurious looking rug of the Shin-Ra base in Junon. What started as a simple black mat at the base entrance soon turned into a rug with a bit more intricate pattern and plushness, and then transformed into an extraordinary display of complete disregard for taste and functionality the closer the visitor came to the Presidential quarters.

Of course, this was the taste of old man Shinra.

And that lavish taste seemed to have been carried down to the younger generation of Shinra blood as Mahler soon discovered upon entering the Vice-President's quarters after a brief knock.

A rather young infantry grunt opened the door, peering at him from beneath an issued helmet with what seemed to be scared light blue eyes. "S-Sir?" He asked with what seemed even more to be a meek voice. His youth was written all over his face. A boy of perhaps fifteen or sixteen. Too young to be in the position he was in.

Was Heidegger getting that desperate that he would enlist children?

"I'm to see the Vice-President. I'm here on appointment."

The young boy gave a quick nod and an awkward salute as he stepped aside, allowing the important looking man to enter the important looking room.

Decadent wasn't a word that could even come close to describing the horrid aesthetic choice of furniture and array of useless things that littered the space with gaudiness. It reminded Mahler of the more pricier rooms in the Honeybee Inn.

...But not that he had ever been there...

Well at least not under the guise of his own name, of course.

"My father send you?" A young voice asked, stepping into the room, adjusting the cuff of a rather expensive looking white suit. A white suit could make any young punk seem beneficial in any level of a company.

"No, I'm here to pay a visit on my own accord." Replied Mahler, trying to focus on the somewhat annoyed features of a young Rufus Shinra through all of the screaming of the extravagant crap around.

"And to what do I owe the pleasure?" He walked over to a burgundy velour sofa and sat. Maybe velvet, perhaps? The young Rufus nodded to the grunt who was shifting nervously on his feet near the door. He snapped to attention when the Vice-President motioned for him to approach Mahler.

It took a minute of processing this wordless gesture for the young boy to understand that he was supposed to take the man's coat. He practically stumbled over to the man and took his article of clothing from him in shaking hands before he hung it delicately onto yet another piece of a disgusting feature in the room. Mahler assumed it had to be some sort of coatrack given there were other coats hanging on it, although one might not be able to tell otherwise given its over-the-top design.

"Hm. Where are my manners?" Rufus said, standing up and approaching the man and cadet. "Cadet Strife, this is Ravel Mahler, he's a member of the Presidential Advisory Board. He works closely with myself and the President on company affairs." He motioned between the two and they faced each other.

A stiff salute and then a stiff handshake from the young boy to the older man.

"Thank you for your hard work." Mahler said through a smile.

Rufus peered at him and tried to dissect the grin to see if it was a real expression or not.

He was known to scowl through his smiles oftentimes.

"At ease, cadet." Mahler said, although he really had no authority over the grunt and this Rufus found rather amusing.

The young boy relaxed, but only slightly. He was outwardly nervous as hell to be singlehandedly guarding the Vice-President of the world, basically. But he backed against the wall as if attempting to shrink away from the two men as they walked over to the sofa with an aura of intensity and malice between them. That too, was making the cadet nervous.

"Is it alright to speak in front of the cadet, here?" Mahler motioned over to the boy who stiffened back up when he was referred to, as if he were discovered in his self proclaimed hiding spot against the wall.

"It depends on what you're here to say to me. Clearly you're not here to just pay a simple visit."

"I've brought you a bottle of Corel wine," he began, obviously ignoring him, "It's fermented with Banora apples and rare Corel berries that are found wild up in the harsh terrain. Little gems plucked from the mountain side." He passed the bottle he was holding off to Rufus who seemed more than uninterested in it.

"I'm not old enough to drink this." He blatantly said, although being the Vice-President of the world allowed him to slip past a few rules and regulations. He was known to sneak in those few 'brewskies' before mentioned during dinner parties and company functions. He was a young rebelling teen first, and a young rebelling world leader second, after all.

Mahler laughed, watching as Rufus turned the bottle over a few times, inspecting the label. "Store the bottle on its side, so the cork doesn't dry out. It'll taste even better in a few years when you're old enough to drink it." That came out a bit more hostile and rude than he intended.

And Rufus picked up on that hostility and set it on the side table next to the sofa, upright. "Why are you here?"

"I can't come by for a friendly visit? You are the Vice-President, after all. And I am the head of the Presidential Advisory Board. Thought you could maybe use some advice after what you've been through."

Rufus scoffed, flipping his blonde hair out of his face which he so habitually did, and was known for doing. "My actions don't require any form of judgment from the likes of you."

Mahler muddled down the anger that was rising in him, but showed through in a single twitch of an eyebrow. He glanced over to the cadet named Strife as he had his attention turned outside through the window behind a desk, watching a SOLDIER 1st class doing a round of squats on the flight deck behind the building with a few other SOLDIER members. The cadet seemed to be entertained as the SOLDIER fumbled a bit, either from losing count or from doing one-too-many squats in a short period of time.

"Why don't you go join them, cadet?" Mahler asked, his voice cutting the attention of the boy back to the men, one of whom he was supposed to be guarding, or protecting. He wasn't exactly sure which one as it seemed to lean more towards guarding. He was kept in the dark about most of his missions, but just obeyed to whatever was barked at him from the 3rd and 2nd class SOLDIERs who were in charge of his unit.

"Sir?" Was the surprised and spineless reply.

Rufus turned his attention to Mahler with a cold glare, as if he were questioning his ability, rather, his audacity to send an order to one of his men. But he retracted that look and formed it into a stoic one as he glanced over to the cadet. He didn't want Mahler to know that he was able to get under his skin. "Go ahead and take a break. You've been standing here for quite some time."

"No, sir, I've been ordered to protect you at all costs." His light voice carried over to the two, slightly less spineless now.

"And I'm ordering you to take a break. You won't get reprimanded, it'll be fine."

The cadet hesitated, his light blue eyes flickering against the two men suspiciously. He was getting confused on whom to obey now.

A raucous cheer came from outside and the cadet looked back, seeing the SOLDIERs being entertained by the spiky-haired 1st Class with a show of sword skill against a 2nd. It was too tempting for the boy to miss this rare show.

"Go ahead, we'll be fine." Mahler urged.

The boy stuttered a bit in his movements before he gave a salute and exited the room with an energy of restrained glee. Moments later he was seen through the window approaching the men. The 1st Class SOLDIER greeted him with a ruffling of blonde hair, once the helmet was removed, and with an unbelievably toothy grin. The cadet mingled in with the SOLDIERs, beaming with excitement to be surrounded by the great men.

"Youth." Mahler sighed with a feign sense of entertainment of the young cadet's blithe actions.

"Why the hell are you here?" Rufus asked again, turning back to face the brown-haired, brown-nosed man before him.

"Now is that any way to speak to your successor?"

Silence. A very awkward silence was his reply.

"Yes, that's right," Mahler began, his voice seeping with venom, "your father has appointed me to be your successor as V.P. when you move up to the ranks as President of Shin-Ra someday."

It was bittersweet for Rufus at that point, as he realized that dear old dad was going to let his little assassination stunt slip on by, for public appeasement of course, and that his standing in the company was still solid.

But the bitter part in it all, was this had to be a sick and twisted form of discipline from dear old dad for merely trying to kill him.

Ravel Mahler was worming his way under Rufus' skin.

And it showed.

"I'll have you removed."

"You seem to forget that I'm the head of the Advisory Board. You have to go through me to have me removed." He seemed quite elated over saying this as it drew forth a candid scoff from the composure that was beginning to crack of the young man before him.

"I'll have you killed."

"Come now Rufus, don't be so reckless. You're under house arrest. There's not much you can do in this situation."

"I'll have the Turks do it. It'll slip right on by."

"The Turks are the enemy of Shin-Ra now, after your father suspected Veld to be the one behind his shooting during the speech, and the one to be behind AVALANCHE's escape in a recent raid. He has Heidegger running things now, and let's just say it's a bit haphazard without Veld's command." This was partially true, as by now Veld had blackmailed the President to reinstate him as leader of the Turks. Rufus didn't need to know this, however.

Rufus smirked, the name of the man whom he despised with a passion, for his gruff and ignorant outlook on how to run things, making him reel with almost a sense of entertained disgust. "'Gya haa haa' is in charge, huh?"

"Seems that way."

Their attention was turned to the men outside who were now wrestling a bit roughly with the blonde cadet, who was trying to fend them off with feeble punches and strong laughter.

The 1st overpowered him in a headlock and he was squirming in the SOLDIER's massive grip. A steady hand reached up and began grinding a gloved knuckle into the scalp of the blonde, which was followed by more struggling and more heartwarming laughter.

Heartwarming if either of these men observing actually had a heart.

"Why did you do it, Rufus?" Mahler bluntly asked.

"Why?" Rufus turned his gaze back to Mahler, scanning up the sharp blue suit he wore. Pinstripes could make any man, no matter how conniving and underhanded he was, pass for a respectable business executive in any level of a company.

Mahler took a turn now arrogantly flipping a few slicked back locks of brown hair that fell out of place into narrow green eyes. "Did Daddy cut back your allowance?"

"Hardly."

"I just merely want to know why you wanted your father to be killed. I'm not here to get you into deeper trouble as well, seeing how you're so cruelly imprisoned right now, I can't imagine you getting a harsher of a sentence for admitting anything more. That would just be inhumane."

"Much obliged." Rufus snorted sarcastically.

"I suppose you don't have to tell me yourself, as I can always find out in other ways, since you seem so reluctant."

A moment's pause from the Vice-President, and then he spoke with a hint of conviction and pride in his carefully worded answer.

"Money."

Ravel Mahler just stared at the young man who spoke so bluntly, so casually. "Money?" He repeated.

"And power." Rufus replied, just as casually as before, leaning back into the sofa with his leg kicked up onto his other knee. He seemed to stretch with a sense of ease, as if admitting this somehow lifted some sort of weight from off his shoulders.

"Money does make the world go around." Mahler said, tilting his head to the side in a thoughtful manner.

"So I've been told."

A few minutes passed by as they sat and listened to the men outside the window shouting with entertainment as the cadet somehow broke free from the grip of the 1st and was now attempting to grapple him from behind.

The 1st just simply side stepped him and he stumbled forward, laughing.

"Who is that 1st Class?" Mahler narrowed his eyes, nodding his head out to the man who once again had the blonde in another rough headlock, laughing triumphantly.

"Zack Fair, I believe."

"Ah yes, I've heard of him. He looks strong."

"One of our finest. He might even come close to being as strong as Sephiroth one day."

"Is that right?" Mahler said, almost absentmindedly. His eyes seemed to be trailing the man, watching as he released the cadet who was turning blue in the smiling face, and took his sword that he had passed off to another SOLDIER to watch over during the rough housing. The 3rd seemed to have trouble handing it back over as he had a look of discomfort over lifting it, even with his Mako enhanced strength.

The 1st took his iconic sword with ease, as if he were lifting a feather from the ground. It was spun around a few times in a display of showmanship above his head, and then holstered it to his back. A friendly grin widened as the young cadet watched in awe over this.

~*~*~

There was an attack of the Junon base shortly after Mahler had left via helicopter. The concussion of the explosion near the Presidential quarters caused the bird in the air to shudder as it lifted a smirking Ravel Mahler.

Chaos broke out along the ground among the infantry units and the SOLDIERs stationed there.

He could see them scrambling around like ants as if they were being raided by another colony as he was lifted high above the choppy ocean of the port. The rays of the evening sun were being overshadowed by the licks of fire thrashing over the building as an air-raid siren sounded through the ocean mist.

Down below there were shouts of confusion, shouts of fear from the innocent population stationed at the base.

The 1st Class SOLDIER was barking out orders to the scrambling people around him, trying to establish some sort of coherent order, but to little effect.

In a plume of distorted dark energy, hordes of demon like hounds manifested from the air around, rearing disturbing heads and jaws at the men. Their crimson eyes reflected the cold blood that ran through their veins as they lunged with rabid growls, tearing at any human they could pounce through the smoke and fire.

The 1st drew his sword, plunging it deep within the bodies of the creatures. They released a chilling screech into the air as they crumbled to the ground, disappearing in the same fashion that they arrived in. Their bodies absorbed by the crawling energy, more just appeared in their place.

"Hey! Spikey! You there!?" The 1st called through the fire, ripping his sword through the abdomen of one of the hounds as it twisted in an unfathomable agony.

A figure ran through the flames, shielding his face through the smoke and heat surrounding them. He stopped next to the 1st, sliding the assault rifle from off his shoulder, quickly flipping the selector lever to the middle, switching the weapon to full-automatic. Bullets began to riddle the writhing bodies of the creatures as they lunged for the humans attacking them. The rapid sound of the rounds moving through the magazine and exiting the barrel of the gun filled the air around, drowning out the noise of the 1st slicing through flesh with his sword.

"I can't tell if this is some sort of summon!" The 1st cried, twisting his body as he lifted a leg, kicking a hound as it jumped for the cadet. Black saliva trailed from the hound's muzzle as it fell into a cargo crate on the flight deck. A few sprays of bullets from the young boy, and the creature ceased movement.

"They just keep coming, sir!"

"Zack!" He corrected through the flapping sound of the of the flames.

"What?" The cadet cried back.

"How many times do I have to tell you, Spikey!?"

"I-I know...but-" He was cut off as a secondary explosion ripped through one of the buildings in a thunderous roar of flames and heat. "Shit!" The cadet cried, crouching to the ground. "The V.P.!"

"Well get in there, Spikey! I'll hold these things off!"

"Stop callin' me 'Spikey'!" He raised up on a widened stance, his feet shuffling with hesitation, waiting for the ocean wind to clear the flames through the back entrance of the building so he could delve in.

"Not until you call me Zack!" The 1st bantered back, as if he weren't letting him leave to save the Vice-President of the company they were employed with. It was like a sick joke, as if he knew that everything would be okay in the end.

The cadet's mind was reeling, glancing back at the 1st who swung his sword through several more hounds so casually. "Fine! Zack, help me through!"

"Now you're talkin'!" He flashed a wide, arrogant grin as he lunged forward to the entrance, swinging his sword down to the ground. The sheer force of his movement sent a gust of air through the shattered glass doors of the building, cutting through the intangible flames. "See ya in a few, Cloud!"

The cadet nodded, gathering his weapon in his hands as he ran, jumping through the doors with a speed that even left the 1st blinking in amazement. He had never seen the little guy move so fast in the few times he had worked with him.

A third explosion from the compound resonated through the entire city, and engulfed all of that hideous furniture that Mahler loathed into embers of flames.

~*~*~

An ominous chuckle floated through the cold air inside the helicopter, and through the headsets worn over the ears of the other passenger and female pilot.

"Well, that was quite a test." A calm voice said after the chuckle dissipated through the microphone.

"What was that, Hait?" Ravel Mahler turned from peering out the window as the helicopter ascended into the sky, passing back over the city.

Hait sat back in his seat, grinning a bit deviously as his rolled around a red orb in his hands. "Just a little something that Eden and I managed to enhance. We do so love enhancing things, as you know."

"That's what you do best, so I've heard." Mahler took one last glance out the window, watching as an airship began to lift through the flames in the distance. "But what is it? That was no ordinary summon."

"An injected summon. I had the men down in the Materia Fusion room drill a hole into the core of the Materia, injecting it with cells from JENOVA herself. This allows the user to have a better control over the summon, and allows for the regeneration of the creatures you saw. I'm not able to hold the summon for long, as you can see it takes a lot of energy to wield it. It's still being perfected." After that speech, Hait gave a modest shrug despite grinning from ear to ear in a sick sense of pride.

Maybe one last anxiety-filled glance back. "I wasn't planning on a 1st Class being there. I hope you managed to be successful." He turned back, smoothing a hand over his mouth which held a look of nervous disturbance in a usually calm expression. Being a business man, of course, any time he needed an 'errand' to be run, he usually paid someone to do it. But this time, for this errand he wanted to be there to see his target one last time before the hit was carried out.

And the hit...it was truly flashy, even for a Shinra.

The thrill of the incident ignited a feeling of what he could only assume was what the SOLDIERs felt like as they killed. It was a glorious feeling that left his extremities tingling. He held in his excitement however in front of a man who was clearly more twisted than he.

"Rufus Shinra should be dead by now, rest assured." Hait so calmly put, still palming the Materia in his hand. "If the demon hounds didn't get him, surely the explosions did. Courtesy of my dear Eden here." He motioned over to the female pilot who sat clutching the cyclic stick with a flinch of recognized excitement when he spoke of her. "Pyrotechnics is just a side hobby of hers."

"A woman of many talents, then."

She smiled through her freckled face, her cheekbone brushing up against the microphone of the headset she wore. "I have the Professor to thank for that."

"You have a lot to thank me for, my dear. Don't you forget that." He said so callously, so arrogantly.

She flashed another pretty smile, nodding obediently to him.

"Well now, I suppose I have to uphold my end of the bargain." Mahler shifted comfortably, contently, in his seat, his narrow eyes piercing into those of Hait's. "How much money did you say you need?"

"As much as you'll give me, Mr. Vice-President."

~*~*~

Of course, Ravel Mahler wasn't Vice-President as it turned out. The 1st Class SOLDIER managed to clear through the chaos with impeccable speed and precision, laying waste to the beasts that ravaged through the compound and building.

Most of the population was spared in the incident, this included Rufus Shinra. And that young and meek cadet that Ravel Mahler didn't bother remembering the name of, had been the one to singlehandedly save him.

But despite Hait's failed attempt at assassinating the Vice-President, Mahler continued to fund his peculiar research with an unbelievable amount of money. For a good portion of years he worked as the company financial advisor for Hojo's research, and a personal financial benefactor for Hait on the side.

Hojo had always been too impassive when it came to his loyalty to the company. He was on the fence constantly with Shin-Ra and could turn for the company, or against it depending on the outcome of his own personal gain. Wherever the money, the resources, and most importantly, the mental stimuli were, Hojo was right there alongside it to leech off it and bathe in the blood. It didn't matter where it came from, as long as he was able to conduct his experiments on his 'specimens', he'd be quite content with however the dirty dough was forked over, and by whomever. He was a man who looked at the bigger picture and paid scant attention to the minute details. However his interests were fleeting. Hojo had a naughty little habit of becoming bored with that which no longer stimulated that twisted brain of his, due to failure or repetition, and therefore would cast his playthings aside like a spoiled child. Whatever was Hojo's 'flavor of the month' as his assistants would often say.

And for what Mahler had in mind, he needed the assistance of someone with a little more patience, and quite frankly he needed someone who was a bit more consistently obsessive, but who was also not partial about loyalty to Shin-Ra.

Hait on the other hand was just as brilliant, just as crookedly unsound as his brother was. Hait was known to have an addictive personality. He brain was led on a single track and easily became completely enamored by something that grabbed his undivided attention. He was known for taking a painstakingly long time to complete certain projects, but he executed them flawlessly, eventually, and the final product was usually next to perfection. His attention to detail was exquisite and hard to rival. Mahler admired such intensity and could appreciate the beauty of the intricacies of Hait's work.

Mahler himself was a man who believed that one should always pay attention to the little pictures in life, to finally take a step back and realize that they formed the big picture in the end. This reflecting his hard earned, and sometimes not-so-hard earned rise to the top of the proverbial ladder of Shin-Ra. His ultimate goal in the end: to be the President of Shin-Ra. And to do that, one of the two company leaders must die first. It was that simple. Mahler decided he already had the President's trust, so killing off Rufus would be far more inconspicuous than if he went for the gusto and just murdered the fat man first. He could deal with being the Vice-President behind the current one, for a while, but his mind seethed at the mere thought of supporting that young punk in the white suit for more than a week as his V.P.

So Mahler approached Hait after conducting his own research on Hait's abilities and past experiments. Top secret information be damned, Mahler got his hands on the reports of Project V from twenty-five years prior when both he and Hait were but of young blood. Getting these documents urged forth a little bit of 'persuasion' on Mahler's part, but nothing he wasn't so used to doing by this point. Mahler had a knack for turning people within Shin-Ra into mindless puppets for his own benefit, but for the right price of course. That file was handed over quite easily after an exchange of some substantial Gil.

Hait was at first a bit reluctant with the idea of 'recycling the fallen' as Mahler tried to put so delicately. Delving into the 'occult', as some foul-mouthed habitually smoking pilots might call it, was a mere memory now for the Professor, who felt that there could be more significant research to be done to benefit the world. That was before Mahler proposed his idea to murder Rufus Shinra.

For it was Rufus Shinra who opted to make some hefty budget cuts to the Science Department, and where that money ended up going...well, only AVALANCHE knew.

~*~*~

And it had been hard for Hait and his small team as a division of the Science Department. Hojo being the head of it, lapped up all the money for his own experiments and left hardly a drop of it for Hait, who had begun some interesting work on enhancing Summon Materia down in the Fusion lab. So when Mahler jotted down several long strings of numbers on a personal check for him, how could he possible refuse?

This launched Project D, or Dead, as the men in the Science Department hadn't possessed a knack for naming their studies anything interesting. Project V, Project G, Project S, all redundant, but straightforward. They hadn't the time to sit and think of lavish names, of course, as there was science to be done.

So Project D was taking the bodies of fallen SOLDIERs or promising SOLDIER recruits from the infantry division. Dead SOLDIER members were hard to come by so they saved those rare specimens for the more involved and crucial experiments such as the implanting of various summons, sometimes even multiple summons at once. So the small team opted to use the infantry men to test the initial step of re-animating them once more.

Submerging the subjects in a chamber of Mako was the foremost crucial step in the process. This allowed the skin, the muscles, every fiber of the body to absorb the substance without the possibility of the host's immune system attempting to fight it off as if they had been alive. If an individual was of a hard persona, the body and mind could endure the essentially debilitating effects of Mako. Mako allowed normal humans to posses the power of the Planet and granted them the strength and speed that SOLDIER members were so infamous for, but this only came if the individual was both mentally and physically strong. The strength needed in the human allowed for the Lifestream current in the individual to be able to circulate the substance in the body, almost like a battery, which kept it flowing strong and prevented the Mako to become stagnant and crystallized.

However, only select few of a steady will could handle the Mako, which was why SOLDIER was such an elite group, and was the soul reason as to why most recruits failed to be accepted. If a person of a weak constitution were exposed to Mako, the brain would shut down, allowing the Lifestream current in the body to fade, and the immune system would be called forth to go into a frenzy, attacking the foreign substance intruding. This essentially wiped the body clean of everything. It caused the muscles to weaken, the body organs, with the exception of the brain, to work at half if not more than half of the capacity they would normally function with. But the brain however would become blank and void; a dry sponge. Erased of everything from memories and emotions, to basic motor skills such as walking, speaking, even swallowing.

There had been case studies of the effects of Mako going so far as to rendering a human completely invalid. Even the most basic of brain functions such as blinking and breathing were ceased. A study of the brain patterns showed that absolutely no impulses were being sent down to the nerves that controlled the body, and eventually the Mako completely eviscerated the immune system and the Lifestream current. This allowed the substance to crystallize in the body and over the organs.

Hait was not searching for perspective SOLDIER members, of course, and the bodies that endured the Mako were actually the ones that he deemed as failures. He wanted to find the ones that were strong enough to recover from the Mako, but who would become a clean slate of their former self. Perfectly impressionable, perfectly manipulatable, the perfect servant.

And this was what eventually lead to Hojo, in his own studies, searching for the perfect Reunion.

But Project D was a grueling process that involved draining the subjects of whatever stale blood they had left in their body, after the submerging into the Mako, and transplanting them with a fresh source. Human blood was not so hard to come by within the Science Department, and it was a readily available necessity that was just as common as a roll of bandages or even JENOVA cells.

And the injection of JENOVA was the next step in the process. This was the key factor in creating the perfect puppet. JENOVA held the essence of mimicry, allowing the body to be dominated by the entity from the heavens, or rather anyone of sound mind who happened to be infused with JENOVA themselves. All it took was a bit of concentration and a powerful conviction to influence the mind of a decrepit puppet. JENOVA was the link between success or failure, life or death.

Getting the Lifestream current in the body to flow again was the most difficult part. They learned from countless experiments that the current in the body was only active for about twenty-eight hours after the body expired. After that time limit, it would fade and no longer be able to keep the Mako flowing through the body. So finding bodies fit for their research became a bit of a struggle, and a fight between Hojo and Hait on who would attain the freshly dead samples that were scarcely brought in by the Turks became a bitter battle between them. Hojo had first selection of course, and Hait was left with whatever the older brother didn't think would be useful to whatever he was conducting in Midgar, while Hait had returned to the old laboratory in Nibelheim. It was a long distance rivalry that would have been amusing to watch if one was sick and twisted as they were. Mahler of course, found their constant struggle to who could gain the most qualifying dead candidates to be rather entertaining. This was all for him after all, when it came down to it.

The last major step in the process was the implanting of a Summon Materia. Project V had used Chaos, and the name implied the instabilities of using this particular specimen. After countless experiments and failures, Hait was unable to determine if the failures were caused by the placement of the Summon in the host's body, or the Summon itself. He needed to find a way to link all of the pieces together to form one cohesive puppet. The Summon Materia must somehow form as a binding component with the re-animation process and to be able to connect with the JENOVA cells in the body. That's when he began to integrate his "Enhanced Summons" into his research and it began to show signs of improvement in his specimens.

But after Hojo began to start research on Sephiroth clones after the incident in Nibelheim, all financial allotment for the Science Department flowed into his study and experiments, and the brothers switched locations. This left Hait bone dry for his research on 'dancing with the dead' as he would so lovingly put it, and left his study at a stand still. Mahler appealed this to the Development Council, and the Advisory Board, but the motion was overturned, despite the subtle death threats he posed to some of the more spineless members.

But however interesting Hait's research was, Hojo's was far more beneficial to the company in the eyes of the Development Council. If Shin-Ra could create more warriors like the great Sephiroth, then any chance of a rebelling force such as AVALANCHE or the war in Wutai would be nothing more than a simple thorn in Shin-Ra's side. Thus, the Reunion commenced, with full financial support of course.

~*~*~

"Are these the infamous samples?" Ravel Mahler liked to pay people visits when it of course benefited him in some sort of way.

Hojo turned to glance over his shoulder, the round glasses on his crooked nose slipping from the movement of an attempted facial expression of interest. "Mahler?" He turned to fully face him in front of the bubbling chambers of Mako behind. "Beautiful specimens, aren't they?" His black eyes trailed the business man as he gazed around, taking in the disturbing scenery of the mansion laboratory. Hojo glanced down to his pant legs which were black with soot from the remains of the town he clambered through.

Mahler approached the chambers, the sound of his wingtip shoes clicking on the stone floor below as he strode. "And this was the one who killed Sephiroth?" He motioned over to the still form of a raven-haired SOLDIER submerged in the chamber, his face being straddled by a breathing apparatus. Mahler leaned forward, peering into the blue liquid haze surrounding the man who remained motionless. "I recognize him. He's a 1st Class, correct?" Mahler turned around, his narrow eyes looking into the ambiguous expression of Hojo.

"1st Class, yes. But the one who took down the great Sephiroth is actually the little one, there." He pointed to the chamber on their right before he turned his short attention span over to the laboratory table in the center of the room.

"Little one?" Mahler faced the second chamber, his eyes scanning down the lifeless body of a young blonde haired boy. His head was slumped down, the various tubes connecting into his body were intertwined, pumping various fluids in and out of his body. Curious eyes trailed down him, observing the massive wound he sustained in his fight with the legendary SOLDIER that was embedded in his gut. Mahler turned away, it was too ghastly.

"He was ran through by Sephiroth, and yet still managed to throw him off into the abyss below. I can't fathom how someone like this grunt could possibly have been the one to kill him, and then survive." The sounds of glass tubes clanking together filled the relative silence in the space as Hojo went about whatever strange experiments he was conducting with them.

"And what exactly are you doing here, Hojo?" Mahler peered at the man who stopped what he was doing, and his hunched body slowly turned to face the business man.

"Makin' copies." His eyes seemed to dance with the smile that began to rise on his face. "I plan on bringing Sephiroth back into this world by implanting his cells and JENOVA cells into these men. I've tried it on several other townspeople who barely survived after Sephiroth's rampage. Hait can have the rest." He waved his hand at Mahler dismissively and picked up a syringe from the table, flicking his long fingernail against the glass tube. The green contents shifted and settled. "I'm about to administer more JENOVA cells, would you care to watch?"

Mahler took a step back, allowing Hojo to walk between him and the chamber housing the blonde boy. The man pressed several buttons on the control panel above and it began to filter out the blue Mako flowing through it with a quiet drumming noise. It slowly lowered the inhabitant inside to the ground, where he just slumped against the glass lifelessly with a rather disturbing thud.

"How are they responding to your treatments?"

The door to the chamber slid open and the form fell against the stone floor with the escape of an unintelligible murmur. His face was buried into the ground, unmoving even as his nose began to bleed from the force of the impact of his fall. Hojo didn't seem to bother with this.

"This sample has been progressing quite nicely. The reports I unearthed about this one were interesting. He failed his exam into SOLDIER due to a fragile mental state. He was unsuccessful in all of the psychological tests that were given to him. Although his body matched SOLDIER standards, his mind however was unfit to withstand the strains of Mako. Which is the perfect candidate for being a Sephiroth Clone however." He kneeled down next to the unmoving boy, removing the cap from the needle.

"The specimen to the left has proven to be quite stubborn and resistant to the Mako, possibly due to the fact that he already has been exposed to it in gradual increments as is customary in SOLDIER. But his resilience to JENOVA has been an enigma I have yet to figure out."

"His will is too strong." Mahler simply said. "He needs to be broken down more."

Hojo seemed annoyed by Mahler's observation, but merely played it off like he knew nothing about in what he spoke of. "Did my dear brother tell you that?"

"From the reports I have read and the experiments I have observed I can attest to this myself. He will reject JENOVA unless you wipe him clean of his soul."

Hojo was about to inject the green substance into his subject but stopped, standing slowly. "Hait is an imbecile. He believes that the dead are shells of potential perfection for him to mold. He is naive to think that once a human has passed, all of their memories and behaviors would be erased."

"He's proven it."

"With what? A mere infantry grunt like this? Well of course he has! I've accomplished this too, as you can see by this specimen here." He reached down and grabbed the boy's right arm, hoisting it up roughly. He jabbed the needle into the crook of his elbow before releasing him and letting his limb drop carelessly to the ground. A small bead of blood formed where he had been penetrated and it ran down onto the floor, mixing with the pool of Mako he lay in. His arm twitched slightly.

"SOLDIERs cannot be broken. At least not so easily. I will perform several more tests and if he doesn't respond to the JENOVA cells, I will dispose of him."

The 'specimen' below let out a soft moan, his breath causing a ripple to run across the liquid he lay in.

"Let me have him." Mahler demanded cautiously.

"I beg your pardon?" Hojo smirked, pressing his glasses up onto the bridge of his nose with the hand that still clutched the syringe.

"If you fail the one on the left, I would like to have him for Hait's experiments. He would be of no use to you, but could be of use to us."

"'Use'?" Hojo released his demonic cackle from his throat. "The only use he'll be is Behemoth food if I fail him."

A louder moan came from the boy below as his right arm twitched once more against his side.

Mahler briefly glanced down, the boy having managed to turn his head on his own. He looked back up to Hojo who failed to notice this at all. "If you give us the SOLDIER, I will make it worth your while."

The body beneath them began to stir, unnoticed.

"Fine. You can have him when I'm done with him. But don't forget, for your little experiments he needs to be dead first. Don't expect me to-" His voice was cut off by a sudden yell cutting through the still air around.

They glanced down, their eyes wide.

"N-no..." Came the distorted voice from the body below them. A right arm lifted violently, fingers spread and gnarled. It slammed down onto the shin of Hojo, scraping down until the hand was clutching his shoe. This caused Hojo to stumble backwards into the metal table behind him with a curt shout. A head lifted smoothly, eyes transformed into a display of wrath, teeth barred through lips that were contorted into a form of conniption. "Z-Z-Za....c....k."

"Impudence!" Hojo kicked back the arm that was clinging to his trousers. He twisted his body around, fumbling on a tray for another syringe. He plucked the cap off with his teeth before heaving himself forward, plunging the needle deep into the boy's neck.

The boy responded with a guttural cry and fervent thrashing of his arms. He began clawing viscously at Hojo as the man stumbled back once more, knocking over several glass flasks onto the stone floor.

"Assistant!" Hojo cried over his shoulder, not having bothered learning any of his lab assistant's names. They were as disposable as his specimens were, in his warped opinion.

A woman trotted over behind the chamber where multiple intravenous bags were hung. She swapped one out in the confusion, glancing nervously down to the boy who now began to become inanimate once more, his breathing slowing, his muscles relaxing into a sedation.

"Christ, what the hell was that?" Mahler exclaimed, swallowing roughly as his hand reached up and tugged at his necktie.

"Assistant, get the test subject back into the chamber!" Hojo barked, peeling himself from the edge of the table he was plastered against in shock.

The woman obeyed silently. And just as forcefully as Hojo handled him, she did this as well, roughly hoisting the boy into the chamber as if she were throwing a howling cat out into the yard in annoyance. The chamber was closed with a hiss, and the drumming noise began to pound behind the machine, filling it once more with a fresh supply of Mako.

Mahler's eyes trailed in fright from the boy, who now just floated in the substance unmoving as if nothing had happened, to the man besides him in the neighboring chamber.

The man's hand was pressed up against the glass of the chamber, his glowing blue eyes wide with ire, and burning into Mahler's soul.

He _must_ have this specimen.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

...To be continued in Chapter Ten: Redemption for Sin.

Ending Author's Note: Okay. This chapter is amusing to me because I actually knew NOTHING about Before Crisis when I started this story. So when I came up with the whole Rufus assassination thing I was admittedly worried that the concept of Project Z was a bit over-the-top and convoluted for just a simple hired hit. But then when I was doing some research on Rufus for this chapter, I read the summary of Before Crisis, learning that Rufus Shinra attempted to assassinate President Shinra by funding the original AVALANCHE. Which in it of itself is lavish and convoluted when he could have just as easily hired anyone off the street to attempt to do it. I guess Shinra boys like things to be flashy and unnecessary. So I'm a bit proud of myself because apparently my idea for Project Z isn't too farfetched as Rufus Shinra himself stooped to something just as elaborate in Before Crisis to try to kill his father for the same reasons as Mahler in trying to kill Rufus. Money and power basically. I just can't believe how I sorta hit the nail on the head, without even knowing anything about Before Crisis, with my own story. Am I making sense? lol Hopefully I am. Anyway, this is actually my personal favorite chapter for that reason alone. XD I tried to throw in some good ol' Zack and Cloud buddy fun stuff for all the fans out there as this chapter was actually unplanned and squeezed in. And yes, Director Lazard from Crisis Core IS President Shinra's illegitimate son and Rufus' half-brother. Go Prezzy, get yer fat ol' groove on you fat sack of crap. Wonder who the mom is?

Anyway, after Rufus attempted to kill Shinra, he detained him in Junon on a lame house arrest once he learned that it was Rufus. He originally suspected the leader of the turks Verdot, or Veld, to be the one behind it and actually turned against the Turks. So they detached themselves from Shin-Ra until Veld basically blackmailed the President into letting him be the leader again. The game apparently never says how he blackmailed him, but I mean c'mon. It's the President of Shin-Ra. There's bound to be tons of things to blackmail him with.

I hope everything is beginning to make sense with everyone? Yes?

Well, because of some crazy things happening with my job, I may have to postpone chapter ten until the 18th. Things are gonna get a little crazy over on this end, so I apologize if I have to skip a week. This won't effect my other story "Malady" however, as that one I'm really far ahead on. Heehee. Yum. But if I get things under control over here hopefully ten will be published on the 11th instead of the 18th. Check back just in case. ^_^

-Ziggy

Ah yes, I've posted a poll in my profile that I'd like some feedback on! "If Mako were to have a taste and smell, what would it be like?" This will come into play in this story and in my other one. So please vote if you're bored. ^_^


	10. Chapter Ten: Redemption for Sin

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Chapter Ten: Redemption for Sin

A/N: Okay, here we go. This is the correct file now...Sorry about the beta tags in the first file I uploaded! Got them mixed up. Heehee.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

She had followed Cloud out of the bar and down the steps into the streets of Edge. He didn't walk briskly this time as she followed him, but merely strolled as if he were waiting for her to catch up once she was able to shove the fussy children back into the house when they attempted to chase after him. Reno quickly agreed to keep watch on them, and she actually trusted him.

"You shouldn't be leaving," she baited, hoping he would question her and actually hold a conversation with her, at least to stall him a little before he inevitably left. But he just walked over to Fenrir which was heeling patiently for her alpha male to return a few yards down. "We need you here." More baiting, and he didn't take it.

He swung his leg over, the bike bobbing under his weight as he sat. His eyes were cast ahead of him down the empty street as if completely and utterly ignoring her.

"_I_ need you here, Cloud," she stressed; even more baiting.

Hook, line and sinker.

"I wasn't lying," he said abruptly, his gaze still ahead of him as if he were speaking to himself.

"What?" She brought her arm up to her chest in that rare instance of vulnerable femininity that Cloud enjoyed seeing her react with on occasion.

She was always so outwardly headstrong – tomboyish, at times, which Cloud was entertained to see. But on the scarce moments that fleetingly passed in his time with her, he was able to see a side of her that he remembered from when they were younger. A side that was breakable; a side that was fragile to pain and turbulence, and she trudged through these instances with a subtle grace of womanliness that made Cloud remember all the reasons why he...

He went pale, frozen. And she saw this, her mind instantly going to every other reason she could think of as to why he became so inanimate all of a sudden. All reasons except for the one that caused the revelation he'd just had over her slight and innocent arm movement towards her chest.

He loved her.

"Cloud?" Her voice was worried. She stretched her arm out to him, touching his wounded shoulder with nothing more than a minute caress.

He felt it, no matter how insignificantly small it was. It was there, and it sent a shocking reminder of his revelation through his entire soul.

He reached up with his left hand and grasped hers, tugging slightly harder than he intended to, and it caused a small gasp of startlement from her. She stumbled forward, but balanced herself as her bewildered eyes scanned over him.

Her mind went to his odd behavior before he left, and she became instantly scared.

"Tifa," he said, and it caused her to relax. His grip loosened a bit, but still held its firmness over her in a dominant way that made her heart flutter.

"Yes?"

"I _will_ come back to you."

These words, the emphasis he put on them, tore through every fiber of her strength, of her entire heart. Her breath hitched in her trembling body. A smile played across her shocked face, softening it into that vulnerability.

"I know you will, Cloud." She felt him squeeze her hand tightly as she spoke, but he continued to look ahead. "I know."

She knew he hadn't been lying before when he spoke to Marlene and Denzel about her, and how he would return.

Cloud's eyes were unmoving, unflinching.

The children had been wrong.

His eyes darted to the left when he lied.

~*~*~

"Can...I ask a question now, kid?" The man looked up at Vincent, who was lifting an eyebrow at the nickname.

"Don't call me kid."

This was ignored. "Who...are ya?"

"Shouldn't you be more concerned with who you are instead?" Vincent's wary eyes trailed the man as he walked over to the edge of the rooftop and sat down, his legs swinging idly over. He leaned back on his hands, his head craning up to the night sky above.

"I...dunno how ta figure that out, kid."

Vincent scoffed, looking up to the moon above.

A moment of silence passed between them, and they could hear a few crickets chirp in the still air, adding an unappreciated sense of comedy to their conversation, or lack-there-of.

"I...get weird memories. Weird images in my head that I ain't sure if I should choose to believe 'em or not."

"What you choose to believe is your decision. You should feel lucky. Not too many people have the opportunity to decide memories for themselves."

The man passed a hand over his brow, pushing a tendril of hair away from sad eyes. "I dunno if I wanna choose. They all seem...so damn fake."

Vincent shrugged slightly. "Then just continue on."

Another pause between them. Vincent reached into his pocket and removed his new phone, which still had the protective plastic on the face of it. Twenty minutes to ten. Something wasn't right.

"Gota cigarette?"

Vincent shook his head, putting the phone back into his pocket.

"Shit."

More silence between them, more chirping in the night.

"You shouldn't talk like that."

"Whatcha mean, kid?" He craned his head back to peer at the ex-Turk with an aura of piqued interest.

Vincent's gaze met the man's from atop a red collar. "Your speech is reserved for old crotchety pilots."

The man wanted to chuckle, but he just turned his head back and watched the peaceful city before him. His eyes would dart to the buildings as lights would turn on and off, or when a car would putt on by and disappear around a corner. He watched with dazed interest as a couple walked past below, huddling together in the brisk air of the night.

A soft breeze trailed past the two men, lifting the spiky raven hair off the shoulders of a weary man. A gloved hand reached up once more and scratched at a scarred jaw line in silent thought.

Vincent let out an inaudible sigh then, not being able to resist saying the next thought that came to his mind. "You shouldn't be here."

"I know," was the quick and mild reply, as if he didn't understand the meaning of Vincent's question or the significance of his answer. He just spoke, as it was the only thing he knew how to do at that moment.

"What do you plan to do?"

A short laugh from the man, and more nonchalant leg swinging off the side of the roof. "I dun even know why I'm here-"

Vincent cut him off coldly. "To assassinate the President of Shin-Ra."

"Old man Shinra, huh?"

"No, his son." Vincent said.

"Rufus?" The man looked back at Vincent with a dubious look to his face. "He's the President now?" He shifted on the rooftop, twisting his body to face the stoic man.

"You've...missed a lot in the past few years."

"I guess I have." He turned back once more. "Funny how I can remember his name and not my own."

"Hm," was Vincent's reply.

"Welp," the man collected himself off the side of the roof and stood, smoothing out a pair of worn uniform trousers, "I suppose I should get goin'."

"Where?"

"I dunno. Ta kill Shinra, maybe?" He joked, but it fell on unamused ears. The man shrugged to himself, walking back over to his sword and removing it from the rooftop with an upward thrust and a soft grunt. He spun it around several times above his head and then holstered it against his back. "My time is running out."

Vincent nodded, his eyes scanning over the silver hairs that were mingling into the dark spikes on his head. "Degradation."

The man hummed a bland reply of acknowledgment, the word falling on uninterested ears.

The sound of a motorcycle purring by caught his attention, and they both turned their heads towards the familiar sound.

Vincent's steady, unwavering eyes trailed along, watching as Cloud drove past on Fenrir.

"There's my ride." The man grinned, his eyes flickering with an insane glow again, his mouth contorting into a twisted rictus once more.

"Let the dead rest, Hait." Vincent pleaded mildly to the man behind the man as Hait once more took control of the faltering psyche of the man. "Do you honestly believe that Eden would want this?"

"What are you talking about? She helped me re-create this man to what he is now."

One last scoff from the ex-Turk tonight. "A puppet creating a puppet. How inappropriate."

The Death Penalty twitched with glee as it was removed from the holster on its owner's hip. It smiled under the glowing moonlight as it was aimed at the strings holding the puppet up.

~*~*~

A gunshot reverberated in the still night, causing Cloud to brake the sprinting wolf to a stop, turning the bike to help slow it down on the empty street. The tires screeched, painting a twin trail of rubber onto the cement below. Several dogs in the area began barking in the still night.

Cloud placed a foot down on the ground, steadying the bike as his eyes glanced around wildly.

It echoed, and echoed.

But he couldn't fixate his sight on the source of the gunshot as he stood there straining his enhanced senses and hearing, trying to pinpoint the area in which it resided from.

And those enhanced senses could still feel Tifa's touch on his shoulder.

After the echo dissipated, he could hear nothing more but the bubbling sounds of the bike running idly beneath him. He frowned, and then decided to head off towards one of the two remaining mako reactors still erect in Midgar that hadn't been completely decimated in Meteor Fall.

This was where Reno was doing his 'recruiting'.

~*~*~

A bald head reflected the headlamp of Fenrir as it neared, alerting the blond driver of the Turk's whereabouts as if it were a beacon in the night. And that bald man was still wearing his sunglasses, oddly enough, in the middle of the night.

Cloud put the restless wolf to sleep, cutting the engine off followed with a graceful dismount. A quick press of a button and a mechanical whirl; the compartment racks to Fenrir opened, revealing the pieces of Cloud's fusion swords.

"What made you change your mind?" Rude said blandly as Cloud unsheathed each sword with care.

"How did you even know I declined?" he said over his shoulder.

Silence was the Turk's reply.

Cloud assembled his sword together faster than the Turk's eyes could follow. Then it was swiftly sheathed into the leather holster on his back faster than the Turk could open his mouth, if he were to make a comment…but he remained his usual cold self as Cloud turned, approaching him.

Rude's eyes, from behind the sunglasses, took in the rather ghastly sight of Cloud's shoulder as it drizzled a small line of blood from the closing wound from beneath a soaked bandage. "Doesn't that bother you?"

Cloud went to answer the Turk, but he was cut off.

"The dumb-ass likes the pain."

A voice from behind. A small smirk twitched across Cloud's face at the voice, and the familiar smell of grease and cigarette smoke once it reached his senses. "What're you doin' here, old man?" Cloud turned slowly, lifting an eyebrow at Cid, who was tossing up a balled up piece of paper in his gloved hand, clenching a cigarette between a barred grin.

"And miss all the fun? Ya gotta be kiddin' me, kid!" A hand moved swiftly to his mouth to remove the cigarette, followed by a haze of smoke. "And by the way, _dumb-ass_." He chucked the ball of paper at Cloud's head, and it hit him square in the middle of his forehead with a tap. "Dun ya dare toss yer litter 'round in my ship ever again, ya got it?"

Cloud caught the old note in an amused hand. "I'll keep that in mind, _old man_." He stuffed it into a pocket, shaking his head.

"So we just waitin' for that punk?"

Rude nodded, not bothering to defend Reno from this obvious insult as it was...well, the truth. Rude was a bit entertained, but didn't show it.

"That punk is right here, yo." Reno was emerging from atop a pile of debris. "Had ta find a good spot for reception. This old reactor is emittin' some kinda interference with the phones, yo." He slipped a bit on some loose shambles of a building beneath him and tumbled awkwardly down to his feet. He managed to steady his landing and chuckled triumphantly at this.

Everyone just seemed to either roll their eyes, or had a face as if they wanted to.

"Are they in place?" Rude asked calmly.

"Yep! Boss Number One, Boss Number Two and Blondie are all in place."

Cloud realized he had no idea what was going on at that moment, as he had just appeared simply because he felt inclined to. Or perhaps he was being controlled by that unknown force. Or maybe he was just bored. Or crazy. He had no idea by that point, and was nervous for himself and everyone around him as he _then_ realized that he could lose it again.

Cid noticed the disturbed look in Cloud's eyes and snorted. "Dun worry kid, yer in good hands." And as he said that Reno tripped over a large concrete slab, and clumsily stumbled. The force that was able to stop him from falling was a quiet Rude who just simply reached out and caught him by the scruff of his neck. Reno was flailing as if he were still falling, but then realized he was saved and gave a sheepish, giggle-like laugh.

"I can see that," Cloud flatly put, and Cid chuckled over the bland joke from the stoic man.

~*~*~

With the soft clicking sound of the phone closing, Tseng turned back to Elena and Rufus who stood by the entrance of the Sector 2 Mako Reactor.

There was a calm breeze that surrounded them, reminding them of the lives that were lost in Meteor Fall. With each piece of wreckage that lay beneath their feet, it reflected the unfathomable terror that each human had felt there in Midgar as the impending catastrophe from above lowered itself mercilessly into their lives. With each howl of the wind, it carried the stench of fear, of remorse, of death.

"Sir, are you sure you want to do this?" Elena finally broke the silence, looking at the President as if she were urging him to change his mind.

He was a stubborn man, and no amount of puppy-dog looks, begging or bribing would work on him. "I've got nothing else better to do."  
"Sir," she said in a voice that was nothing short of perturbed.

"Elena, don't question him," Tseng somewhat snapped, although he was silently hoping that the man he was sworn to protect with his life would agree to go back to the lodge in Healen, but he knew that he would never agree to do so. If he were to go back to Healen, his life would be in danger. If he were to go with them for the search of Hait and Ravel Mahler, his life would be in danger as well.

As much as Rufus usually sat on the sidelines in the past pulling the strings on the Turks and having them do his dirty work, Rufus had a part of him that longed to see some adventure, some entertainment. He could be a deviously twisted man.

It almost humbled him.

And this almost humble man was loading several shells into his newly cleaned and polished double-barreled sawed-off shotgun.

Maybe not humble enough, as he did this with a slightly crooked grin.

Tseng refrained from shaking a head at these fleeting thoughts in his head, and realized that Rufus Shinra would always be Rufus Shinra.

~*~*~

Intelligence gathering and espionage was always something the Turks excelled in. Aside from scouting for respective SOLDIER recruits and the occasional kidnapping and assassination request, they were quite crafty and stealthy when it came to finding out information they wanted. Ruthless; relentless; tactical; underhanded. All qualities required in a Turk.

But Yuffie was better.

And this had landed her a position as lead intelligence gatherer at the WRO for the army.

At first, Reeve had been a bit reluctant to indict her into that position. She was impulsive, crude, a bit clumsy and, frankly, loud. Quite the opposite of what one would expect from a self-proclaimed ninja.

But when something interested her, and when she benefited from her mission with materia - as that's how Reeve paid her, mostly - she would transform into an entirely different persona. Tactical, resourceful, cunning. Determined.

The perfect candidate to send out to do a little ninja work on Ravel Mahler's current whereabouts. Reeve had received some tips from Tseng after the Turk had infiltrated the Shin-Ra building and hacked into the computer system. After uncovering several ghost files on Mahler's rather elaborate plans to assassinate Rufus Shinra, Reeve felt it best to collaborate with his old boss to try and put a stop to it - with their own assassination, of course.

After all, Rufus Shinra was the one who was funding the WRO.

Reeve ordered Yuffie to follow Mahler for five days to learn his location, to learn of patterns in his movements and habits. When he left his apartment in Edge, where he went to resume conducting Shin-Ra affairs in the ongoing reconstruction of the city, when he came back home, when he ate dinner, when he took a short walk to the grocery store. Everything.

Yuffie was a bit irked by the small amount of time Reeve gave her to study all of this nonsense, but after some materia was waved in front of her face by that accursed mechanical cat, how could she possibly say no to an old friend?

Finding his residence was rather easy. All Yuffie had to do was locate the tallest, most luxurious building in all of Edge and then head straight to the penthouse above. He was the Vice-President of the world, after all.

_Six forty-five...wakes up. Alarm goes off for three minutes before it's shut off. Lights don't come on for another ten minutes after that. He showers for exactly twelve minutes, shaves for exactly six, does his hair in four minutes, uses the same hair spray as Cloud does. Note to self: remind Cloud to change his hair spray when this is all over._

_Seven twenty...takes a rather long leak. Ugh._

_Seven twenty-five...watches the news channel for thirty minutes, chuckling at the weather reports, gawking at the pretty news anchor and then cursing at the stock ticker at the bottom of the screen. Shin-Ra stock took a dive. _

_Eight o'clock...heads up to the upper Northeast side of Edge to City Hall._

_Eight twenty...stops off at Mooglé Café to order a large non-fat latté with an extra shot of espresso and a shot of hazelnut. He grabs the "Edge Times" newspaper for two gil. It's one gil cheaper down the street, creep._

_Eight thirty-three...reaches City Hall three minutes late for work._

_Between eight thirty and twelve fifty-nine he does boring menial business crap with the City Council and the WRO representing Shin-Ra in helping rebuild the city. 'Bout time Shin-Ra does something helpful._

_One o'clock...boring lunch down at Mooglé Café again on boring old 22nd street. Monday he eats a plain bagel with onion-flavored cream cheese and with a large water. Tuesday it's a sandwich with cheddar chips. Wednesday it's another damn bagel but this time with plain cream cheese and the bagel is onion flavored. Thursday it's...I stopped paying attention... _

_Two o'clock to six...snoooooorrrreee. I lost interest in his stupid Shin-Ra affairs._

_Six twenty...after twenty minutes of shouting rabidly at traffic on the freeway, Mahler heads to...waitafreakinminute._

Yuffie pulled herself from her impressively memorized routine of Mahler's boring life when her eyes trailed the vehicle he drove, passing the exit to the street his penthouse was located on. "Someone have a hot date tonight, perhaps?" Yuffie chimed to herself as she glanced over her shoulder to merge through the traffic in Tifa's sA-37.

She had been watching him for four days now, and he hadn't done a damn thing different each gruelingly boring day. Each day he exited the freeway on 6th street, stopping off at the post office next to an antique shop Tifa often liked to frequent in search of picture frames and little things to fill the children's room with.

Mahler had taken the exit for the old remains of Midgar.

Yuffie cursed to herself. She was going to have to track him on foot now, as following him into the deserted shambles would raise too much suspicion. She slowed her vehicle and watched him pull off onto the dirt road, picking up speed as he drove away.

So on foot she followed. His pace was significantly reduced as he had to dart and weave his way through massive amounts of wreckage and debris overrunning what were the old bypasses of the freeways. As the building development over in Edge still continued, construction workers were recycling as much as they could from the former city giant, and things were constantly being moved around in the areas that were once clear of debris. Each day it was different, and each day one had to find a new way to enter the heart of Midgar.

Yuffie took an impressive leap onto, she assumed, what used to be a supermarket on top of another supermarket from the upper plate. Her feet dug into the weathered concrete of the old building, kicking up dust as she landed with a muted thud. It was her highest vantage point in the area without having to clamber up the Shin-Ra building itself. Her eyes narrowed, scanning the city for any signs of movement from Mahler's vehicle.

She spotted him heading towards the Sector 2 Mako Reactor, eventually pulling the car to a stop before he climbed out. She observed that even though the city was deserted, he still glanced around nervously as he entered.

"Funny place to invite your date to, creep!" She leapt off the building, soaring gracefully down onto the ground where she landed slightly less gracefully with a grunt and a small stumble. She stood, smirking to herself as she flipped open her phone.

"Reeve, it's me," she spoke to the voice that finally answered. "Mahler went to the old Mako Reactor in Sector 2. I'll see what dirt I can scrounge up when he leaves."

"Just be careful, Yuffie. He may not be a SOLDIER or a Turk, but looks can be deceiving."

"Yeah, yeah. Just like you. I can't tell half the time when it's really you, or Cait in a costume of you."

Reeve chuckled, his voice carried through the ear-piece very coolly. "Do not infiltrate the building until after he leaves. We can't risk having you blow this wide open. Call me once he leaves and I'll guide you through the reactor to investigate. Just don't do anything stupid."

She scoffed, hanging the phone up and slipping it inside her pocket. "'Don't do anything stupid' he says."

~*~*~

However, Yuffie was unable to do anything stupid, at least for a while, as Ravel Mahler was in there for quite some time.

She grumbled to herself, concealing herself behind a large steel girder that was standing erect in a pile of rubble only fifty feet from the mako reactor. Boredom was long experienced and was leaving a rather peculiar taste in her mouth that she knew wasn't going to go away unless she saw some action. But working for Reeve meant that she had to play by his rules and follow his direct orders. She didn't care too much for that as she enjoyed being her own dictator, but he was a very intelligent man and knew what he was doing.

Or at least she hoped so.

She had actually jumped down and poked her interest around in Mahler's car for a bit, uncovering nothing but a few cigarette butts in the ashtray and a rolled up newspaper from this morning in the passenger seat. He was unnervingly organized at home and in his car. She frowned, realizing he had taken his briefcase into the reactor with him.

And what the hell could Mahler possibly be doing in a mako reactor? There really wasn't anything to them but machinery, monsters and metal ladders. They would house a few maintenance rooms, a security office for the Shin-Ra guards and sometimes a lounge room for the workers depending on the size of the reactor.

Nothing that the Vice-President of Shin-Ra would want to physically concern himself with on any given day, basically.

Yuffie pressed herself up against the steel girder as a second car finally pulled up about twenty minutes into her stake out. She waited until she heard the door close before she peeked around to see a slender, middle-aged man, possibly in his fifties, slightly hunched over. Yuffie made a face at the man's uncanny resemblance to Hojo. The only difference was this man had a slightly smaller forehead than Hojo, didn't wear those nerdy glasses, and his hair was shorter and combed back. But still, he was as gross and creepy as Hojo was. Yuffie cringed to herself.

Her eyes trailed him as he entered the mako reactor silently carrying nothing but a knapsack in his hands.

She couldn't take it any longer. Mahler had been in there for a while now, and now Hait had appeared. She knew crucial pieces of information were about to be lost if she didn't follow. So after five minutes of debating on whether or not the materia Cait Sith had been waving around in front of her face would be worth breaking a few little WRO rules over, she decided that what Reeve didn't know wouldn't hurt him.

But somehow that man seemed to know everything, as her pants pocket suddenly emitted a short vibration, and in her hand was dipped to retrieve her phone. Reeve had sent her a map of the mako reactor. She had always been fairly easy to predict, despite her stealthy abilities.

So she slipped inside.

The ambient teal hues of light that were normally cast upon the insides of the Reactor were gone, and left nothing but the dull flood lights to light the way. The air was stagnant and hazy from the remnants of the mako fumes that once dominated the area with its distinguished earthy aroma. The building was quiet, with only the sound of the air reverberating against the dormant machinery, flowing through in a low droning hum.

Yuffie had lowered herself off a ladder to the lower level of the reactor, making little noise as she landed. She crouched, her eyes scanning through the darkness, trying to spot any movement that could possibly lead to trouble. The area was still, unnerving. Not even a stir from any monsters that might have been lurking around, feasting on the rats that crawled deep within the reactor to escape the harsh terrain of the city. Silence.

Straining her hearing, she could pick up a faint murmuring noise, which at first she wasn't even sure if she had actually heard herself. She crept along, moving very steadily, fluent in controlling the muscles in her legs with precision so as to not misstep or cause a spasm from over tension. If she were to stumble as she moved, it would send the small noise striking through the silence as if a gun had been fired.

There was a maintenance room ahead on the upper level that she could finally confirm voices were coming from. She crept up to a large cylindrical air duct at the far end of the scaffold she was on and she pressed her ear up to it, hoping that it was connected to the room above.

After a moment of adjusting her hearing through the sound of the air flowing through, she could begin to make out a conversation.

"...put the Jenova sample to good use, of course."

"I should hope so. A chunk that large wasn't easy to obtain. A lot of Shin-Ra men were lost because of it down in the Northern Crater." Yuffie was straining to distinguish the owner of the voices between the two men.

"Their deaths shall not be in vain. It is for science, after all. However, I was finally able to release her from the mako chamber a few nights ago. It has been such a daunting process."

_Her?_

A businesslike chuckle from one of the men. "Daunting? For you? Bringing back someone from the dead should be a cakewalk for you by now, Hait."

And then a Hojo-like cackle that threatened to convulse Yuffie's spine with revulsion. "Unfortunately her brain was severely damaged from the head trauma. I'm afraid she's not the same."

A short scoff from Mahler. "After an experiment like that, there's not many who would be the same in the end."

A moment of silence between them, or the conversation became quiet at least through the air duct.

"Have you been able to come into contact with 'Z' properly?" Mahler spoke once more.

"Hi...whe...uts......bee...ard...to loca...."

Yuffie cursed to herself as a gust of wind from outside flowed through the duct, bringing in fresh air into the room the men were in. Breathing in the fumes from Mako over an extended period of time could eventually begin to cause the body harm, so air ducts were installed in the maintenance rooms to keep the employees relatively safe. However, the industrial fans were no longer in use since the shutdown of the reactors, and only the occasional gust of wind would find its way through.

"And he's...ven...to be.....diff..t......control at times."

_Shut up, wind! _she pleaded in her head. She didn't want to have to crawl through the air ducts above the room to be able to hear their conversation.

She could only make out faint murmurs now as they conversed through the wind, and through her brain screaming at said , the wind began to soften. Yuffie took in a deep breath and held it in, removing the sound of her breathing from the still air around. One less noise to obstruct her hearing. Her mind cleared.

"......ation continues, Z will become easier to control."

_Yuffie - 1; Weather – 0_

"Just how long do you expect the subject to last during the degradation?"

"Long enough to complete his purpose, rest assured. But without Jenova cells to slow the process, he'll fall to degradation rapidly."

"And these Jenova samples I've brought you will allow you the control of 'Z' again?"

"With the extensive research Hojo and I have accumulated over the years, it is conclusive that an individual injected with Jenova cells can assume control over another being that carries the same cells. This case was proven with the Reunion of Sephiroth two years ago. It was not Sephiroth who walked this Planet, but Jenova herself."

"Jenova? You mean the person who murdered Shinra wasn't actually Sephiroth? Palmer saw him with his own two eyes!" Mahler sounded completely dubious.

"Sephiroth's physical body is dead and has been for seven years. However, his will lived on in the Lifestream and was strong enough to overpower Jenova herself with the cells implanted in him during his gestation in Lucrecia."

"So the incident at the Shin-Ra building two years ago, when that creature's body went missing-"

Hait cut Mahler off. "Sephiroth was controlling it from the Lifestream. With Jenova's mimicry traits, he was able to manifest his image through it with sheer will alone."

"Absurd."

That Hojo-like cackle once more. "How do you think I'm able to control 'Z'? It's the same way Sephiroth controlled Jenova. It's a simple battle of wits and power."

_Tifa was right; it's just like Cloud. Someone must be controlling him again._

"My appearances at the base in Junon have been raising suspicions. I cannot continue to supply you with Jenova samples so easily any longer. This has to get done, and get done quickly."

"I need more Jenova cells to complete the connection with 'Z'."

Mahler began to get angry, and his booming voice rattled through the air duct, causing Yuffie to recoil back. "I will bring you more samples tomorrow. But you have two days to kill Shinra, Hait! Rufus must be dead by Saturday night, do you understand?"

"He will be dead."

Mahler let out a rather frustrated sigh through his nose, carrying the scented breath of venom. "Shinra stays at the Healen Lodge not far from here. I'm assuming 'Z' will be there to complete his task."

A strong vibration coursed through Yuffie's shorts at that moment, and she flinched roughly against the air duct. She let out a muted cry, gripping her hands against the duct to brace herself from falling. A rattling noise reverberated up through the air duct from her movement, and she could hear the men above falling silent.

She grimaced, her heart pounding in her heaving chest. She could feel a bead of sweat forming behind her neck and trailing down her spine. She refrained from trembling from the sensation and causing more noise to erupt through the silence. She waited with bated breath.

Another rough gust of wind fought through the duct, creating a similar noise to the rattling she'd just created, and it blended together quite conveniently.

_Okay wind, we're even._

She strained her hearing once more, growing nervous over the silence of the men above once the wind subsided.

After a few excruciating moments, the men began conversing once more, their tone shrouded in a sense of unease, but nonetheless still confident.

Yuffie relaxed, steadying herself again, and then made a mental note to smash her cell phone into tiny little bits of technology when she got out of there.

"The assassination will commence at ten p.m. as planned. I will be seen in the lobby of my apartment complex entering my penthouse as an alibi. There's not much left of Shin-Ra to investigate further even if I were to be under suspicion, but I am a cautious man, as you know."

_Not so cautious to be completely oblivious to the fact that you've been followed for the past four days, idiot._

There were two distinctive snapping noises, and the sound of a briefcase being opened. "I will bring more tomorrow. Which reactor will you be in?"

"Reactor 3 tomorrow. But for the assassination...I'd rather not say."

The sound of the briefcase closing filled the air duct and then the sound of bodies moving and shuffling above in the room.

"After Rufus dies, I will assume the Presidency and will restore the company to its former glory." This voice was no longer in the air duct, but directly above Yuffie as Mahler exited the maintenance room.

Yuffie crouched down very slowly, moving to her left to hide in the shadow of the scaffolding above where he stood. Her breath was held once more, her heart beginning to race from what was either excitement, or apprehension. The blood roared in her veins, her muscles beginning to twitch with the urge to just spring out on Mahler and end it right there. But orders were orders, after all, and Reeve would have that mechanical cat take away her prize if she were to disobey.

The men began to cross to the platform at the entrance, the sound of their footsteps echoing on the walkway filling the stilled silence around.

The phone in Yuffie's pants vibrated again, reminding her that she had a message waiting, as if she had forgotten already. She froze.

And so did the men.

Hait turned around and looked directly at Yuffie's location through the darkness.

"Something the matter Hait?" Mahler looked to him, and then glanced back as well.

"Acclimating to the mako and Jenova injections I've been administering to myself has been a very intriguing process. The changes in my sensory abilities has increased, and it makes hearing every small noise around rather cumbersome."

Mahler scoffed shortly. "So it's nothing?"

"Most likely."

They shared a chuckle together and turned, exiting the reactor.

Yuffie waited for the entrance door to close with a reassuring thud before she fell back onto her bottom, releasing the breath she had been holding for more than a minute.

She was definitely going to smash the phone into bits, and then force feed said bits to whomever had attempted to contact her.

Of course Yuffie wasn't aware that it was a personal alarm she set on her phone to remind her to turn it to silent. She would be eating technology that night.

~*~*~

"So the boss ain't safe in Healen, yo. He's over with Tseng and Elena at the other reactor. Our source tells us that yesterday Mahler supplied Hait with more samples at this reactor, so now we ain't sure which one he's in tonight for the assassination, yo. So both teams are ta jump on in and do a little searchin' for the bastard before he can act." Reno chuckled a little, motioning over to Rude. "We took a bet ta see who'd find the guy first, yo. Anyone else want in? 1500 Gil, yo."

"I never agreed to the bet," Rude said stiffly. "And how do you have that kind of money?"

Reno just flashed Rude a suspiciously innocent grin, and this commenced the usually hardened Turk to ask an array of pressing questions to his partner as to how he could possibly afford such a bet to begin with. Reno always seemed so strapped for cash.

An irked breath came from the blond man as he turned his head away from the two Turks who stood there bantering amongst themselves like a pair of siblings.

"And as fer Mahler," Cid continued, "Yuffie's gonna pay him a personal visit at his place at ten." Cid chucked a cigarette off to the side. "Lesse what that little chickadee can do."

The two stopped bickering, as the word 'chickadee' brought Reno's attention back to the conversation. He was seen glancing around the area as if in search of a good looking woman, but he frowned briefly, realizing that he'd been duped unintentionally by the word. "Anyways, yer friend is prolly miles away right now at Healen. He's gonna find nothin' but an empty Lodge, yo. That's when we'll get Hait and hopefully break the guy free."

Reno continued to talk, but Cloud was no longer listening as the realization of the situation was beginning to settle into his busy mind. His limbs began to tingle in his body over the thought that he could be running into...

_...him..._

His face was easily readable and the men fell into sympathetic expressions for him.

"You don't have to be here, Cloud." Rude surprisingly spoke, and everyone turned to look at him. "Let us handle this."

Cloud's lost eyes gathered up to meet Rude's calm face. "No, this is my fight. What Hait did to...to him...And what I couldn't do for him..." He trailed off, those lost eyes finally falling to the littered ground below. "...I have to find redemption for my sin."

"Sin?" Cid scoffed, his arms folding across the blue shirt he wore. His eyes narrowed at Cloud as he cocked his head to the side. His voice came out annoyed and almost offended at his friend's words. "What the hell are ya talkin' 'bout?"

His own words were echoing in his mind.

_"...I'm the evidence that you lived..."_

Cloud gave a small nod. "...My sin...for existing."

~*~*~

Metal armor scaping against the cement sounded as Vincent landed on the ground in a hunch. He straightened immediately, his long legs carrying him through a darkened alley way in pursuit of the mysterious man.

They had exchanged several strikes against each other and the man's strength was unreal; it had sent a jarring shock down into Vincent's core. He had little time to react as once he fired his gun, the man side stepped the bullet as if he were simply dodging a fluttering moth beating its wings past him. He had approached Vincent in a swift movement that even the ex-Turk had trouble following with his trained eyes.

And soon Vincent found yet another uncomfortably pointy sword to be trailing along his body, reopening the wound Cloud had just given him a day prior on his chin.

Two more shots of his gun and the man jumped off of the rooftop and began running towards the outskirts of the town - towards Midgar.

Vincent dodged a few trash cans in the alleyway, watching as the man moved with incredible speed and confidence. The man had his sword sheathed against his back as he ran, as if sending a message that Vincent posed no threat to him whatsoever.

Something was incredibly wrong. It was ten minutes to ten now. This man should have been in Healen, miles away, to assassinate Rufus Shinra according to the information Yuffie obtained several days prior. He decided to attempt to stall the man long enough, as Vincent was unsure as to what was going on, so Yuffie could at least carry out her own assassination on Ravel Mahler at his penthouse. And while the others searched for Hait in the mako reactors, he hoped to keep this man away from Cloud specifically, until they were able to kill Hait and stop him from controlling his puppet.

Hait was apparently having some difficulties in controlling him at times, but still managed to have a steady grip on the majority of the man's erratic actions. There was a constant struggle that was to be seen between the two faltering forces that battled each other in the hopeless dominance of this man's soul. A feeling that Vincent knew all too well at times.

But what confused Vincent was that Hait was still regardless in control of him as a whole, and if this man was supposed to be in Healen to kill Rufus as planned, why was he suddenly making a dash towards Midgar where everyone was...

Vincent narrowed his eyes.

They'd been had.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

...To be continued in Chapter Eleven: My Faded Time

Ending Author's Note: Admiral Ackbar: IT'S A TRAP!

Thank you Admiral Akbar. ¬_¬*

Whee!!! I am proud to say that this chapter was so lovingly beta-ed by the oh-so-wonderful Nekotsuki. Neko is the author of the fic "Misconduct" which you will now search for it and read it as soon as you're done with this one. It's an amazing story and must get your undivided attention!!! GO.

Hmm...things are still crazy over on this end so expect the next chapter to be posted two weeks from now (thank you all for being so patient, by the way!) on October 2nd! *scratches head* October...2nd...why does that date seem important in my head? _ *walks off pondering this* Something to do with work maybe...? *mutters to her Ziggy self as she drags Ackbar with her*

OCTOBER 2ND = ZOMBIE LAND!! I JUST REMEMBERED!!! WEWTS!!!!

AND HAHAHAHA! I originally posted the wrong file where Nekotsuki's edits were still in there. So sorry everyone who started to read that one first. **is blushing** I'm a dork. XD


	11. Chapter Eleven: My Faded Time

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Chapter Eleven: My Faded Time

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

He was trying to control his gag reflex throughout their steady pace inside the mako reactor. The noisome smell of the mako was soaking into his skin and invading his already faltering constitution. After being exposed to the substance for four continuous years, and then suffering through yet another bout of poisoning later on, it was more like a mental reaction to the memory of having one too many tequila shots on a night out.

A night out that ended in Cloud infamously drunk-dialing Tifa. He couldn't really remember much after he stumbled home with Barret slung around his shoulder, but in the morning with the way Tifa had grinned at him with those sparkling eyes, he could only assume it was something very personal he had disclosed with her. Or maybe it was the incoherent slurring, hiccupping and arguing with himself that just made her grin with amusement. He normally held in his liquor quite impressively, but that night Barret was to blame as two shots soon turned to six, and then… well, he forgot how to count past six by that point.

And as he and Reno walked through the dormant reactor, this memory helped subdue the gagging that threatened Cloud, as he cracked a tiny smile in the darkness. It really was an interesting night...well, the parts he could remember, at least.

"So what's up with you and sweet cheeks, yo?" It was as if Reno knew he had been thinking about Tifa.

Cloud blinked and looked over at the Turk he was walking with. The other two had split off and made their way through the upper level of the reactor. They had poked into the maintenance room where Yuffie had said Hait had been, but he wasn't there. Maybe they had the wrong reactor after all. So now he and Reno were heading towards the lower level of the reactor's core.

"Sweet...cheeks?" Cloud shot Reno a dubious look, but it was unseen in the darkness. The only light was from the flood lights along the walls and ceiling of the reactor, and the eerie, subtle glow of Cloud's eyes. "I don't think I want to know."

Reno was twirling his nightstick around in his hands like a baton. The aura he was projecting in the darkness was that of a calm, collected one. It made Cloud nervous. "Ya know, that girl. Yer girl, yo."

"My...girl?" Cloud said.

"Are ya just gonna repeat everythin' I say, or are ya gonna hold an actual conversation with me, yo?"

Cloud replied with annoyed silence.

"Alright, fine. Yer so borin', yo. I dunno what she sees in ya." A very disturbing and taunting grin broke out on the Turk's face, and he should have been thankful that the darkness shielded Cloud from it, as the perturbed blond probably would have knocked it right off of him. "I'll take her if ya don't want her, yo."

Cloud stopped walking, as Reno suspected he would. Reno, however, continued walking to try and get some distance between them as he felt Cloud bristling behind. As long as he was out of his sword's reach, he'd be okay.

"Why..." he began, and Reno could tell he was forming the words in his head carefully. "...In the hell would you care about my personal life?"

"We're friends, ain't we?"

"Hardly."

Reno stopped under a flood light and looked back, pouting at him in an almost mocking way. "Aw c'mon now buddy, it's just us. Ya can get mushy with me, yo. Yer secret's safe with me; I won't tell."

Now it was rather apparent he was mocking him, and this Cloud was extremely aware of and extremely angered by. He scoffed and continued walking, brushing past him on the narrow scaffolding. His wounded shoulder grazed the Turk's as he passed, and he winced with a short hiss, stopping.

"She took good care of ya while ya were out cold, yo. Ya should treat her better. Dun know any women myself that would do that for me, yo."

"Turk, just shut up." Cloud's hand was at his shoulder, squeezing it in reaction to the pain, but this only made it worse. He kept his back to the man as he spoke, his voice giving a clear warning to the redhead. "I'll keep my business to myself, and you keep yours...the hell away from mine after this is all over. Understand?"

Reno stifled a laugh with his hand. "Whatever man. Just tryin' ta help, yo."

"I don't need your help."

"Well apparently ya can't help yerself, yo. Ya got that girl all crazy over ya, and ya do nothin' for her in return."

The sound of Cloud's exhaling breath caused Reno to take a rightfully nervous step back on the scaffold. "Since when in the hell do you care?" He turned his head, giving the Turk a look from over his shoulder. "What motive or personal gain could someone like you possibly have over my business?"

A simple shrug. "Nothing really, yo."

Cloud turned his head forward once more. Reno's eyes trailed the gentle heaves of his shoulders as he attempted to calm the irritation that was brewing inside.

"Do ya love her, yo?"

"Is this why you insisted with teaming up with me instead of Rude? To put your nose where it doesn't belong?"

Reno laughed, resuming the nonchalant spinning of his nightstick in his hand. "I think I got my answer, yo."

"You don't know a damn thing and it's going to stay that way." Cloud quickly replied as he began to walk off without him, shrouded in an aura of miffed anger.

Reno suddenly laughed a bit louder than he probably should have, given the circumstances and the fact that they were supposed to be searching for their target quietly before ultimately killing him in the swiftest way possible, if the target was even in that reactor to begin with. "She said the same damn thing, yo!"

And the blond stopped dead in his path and became frighteningly inanimate.

"Cloud?" Reno took a step forward once his laughter subsided, unsure of Cloud's sudden bout of stillness. When he didn't get a response, he approached him cautiously, having remembered what Tifa had told him about his unstable behavior as of late.

Cloud turned his head however, looking directly into Reno's wary eyes once the Turk neared him. "She...said what?"

A quick sigh of relief and Reno relaxed. "Sweet cheeks said the same thing ya just did."

"To what question?"

"Same, yo."

Cloud looked forward once more and continued on, carrying a small smile.

~*~*~

Elena had cleared a room, nodding to Tseng who sighted the muzzle of his 9mm handgun through a room across the platform. "Clear," she said lowly, her eyes glancing towards Rufus who was merely strolling along the scaffolding behind, confident that his Turks were handling the situation quite nicely.

"It is possible that we have the wrong reactor," Rufus said as he glanced down at his watch. "Only a few minutes before ten. One of us is bound to find Hait."

"Do you really think that once we kill Hait, the test subject will be normal again?" Elena said, shutting the heavy metal door of a maintenance room. The hinges complained rather loudly, and this made the female Turk cringe as a reply.

Tseng cleared his throat, forcing down the bout of scolding at her poor choice of words. He scolded her enough already as it was for the reckless things she did and said. She was worse than Reno at times. However, she was unaware that Tseng considered this person as a friend, rather than a mere 'test subject'. "Reeve has sent a small team from the Investigative Department from the WRO to watch over the lodge." He spoke with a bit more malice intertwined in his voice, but mentally shrugged at it, as it didn't seem to bother her. She was used to his callous demeanor by now. "They're going to observe his behavior and try to detain him if he poses no threat."

"What's going to happen to him afterward? Are we going to ki-"

"What part of 'detain' do you not understand, Elena?" Tseng cut her off, his voice low and filled with warning.

"And if he resists?"

Tseng paused, his gloved hands tightening around the butt of his gun. "I hope for the WRO's sake that he doesn't."

"But Tsen-"

Rufus was the one to cut Elena off now, but his voice was more calm and understanding as he spoke to her. "We don't know what's going to happen, Elena. Let Reeve handle things back at the lodge."

The three grew silent as they headed toward the upper level of the reactor. They had started with the lower level first, combing through each room and large piece of machinery that a man could possibly hide behind. Their trained eyes scantly blinked through the darkness, their muscles taut and rigid with an aura of nervous excitement.

Elena began to feel regretful over the words she had blurted out to her boss, as even in the darkness she could tell he was affected by them. She could always tell when he was upset due to the usual stiffness in his shoulders disappearing into a very nerve-wracking slump. It was as if all the pent up frustration and annoyance he used to keep those shoulders up suddenly left his body and allowed him to appear relaxed. Which was quite the opposite as it usually meant very distinct and methodical lectures from the Turk. Then, after his businesslike rants, those shoulders would rise back up to their rightful place; square and stiff once more.

And she could see in the darkness before her that his shoulders were quite low on his body now as he strode swiftly towards the upper core. The sound of his dress shoes clicking on the metal scaffolding filled the still air as it echoed around them. Elena glanced down into the black abyss below the scaffolding, and her stomach turned at the dizzying sight. She shook her head, pressing over behind Tseng who didn't seem bothered by it in the least.

It was haunting knowing that through that abyss was the Lifestream itself.

"Wait," Rufus whispered, his eyes narrowing. "Move."

His two Turks obeyed his blunt order and stepped aside from the main door to the core of the reactor. He pressed his ear up against the cold metal, straining his hearing through the silence around. His ears picked up a faint shuffling of clothing behind the door. Rufus gave a silent gesture to his two employees.

They fiddled with their handguns momentarily before giving the President an affirmative nod that they were prepared for entry. Tseng motioned for Rufus to step back before he threw open the door with a rusty cry.

There was a figure in the dull light of a lantern.

Rufus stopped in the middle of the doorway, his mouth twitching as if resisting forming into a scowl. He never liked for this person to see that he was able to get under his skin. "You..."

"Ah, Rufus," the figure said. "And to what do I owe the pleasure?"

~*~*~

The night was cool; it was still. It seemed as if the entire city of Edge was slumbering in the minutes that passed by slowly for the female ninja. Where there should have been sounds of the occasional late night car passing by, there was nothing but the gentle whistle of the wind that flowed through the city.

The phone gave one last beep before it was ultimately silenced. She had learned her lesson from the last incident; needless to say, she'd refrained from eating her phone that night.

Two minutes to ten.

Yuffie released a very steady sigh through her nose, pushing out any bit of anxiety that etched away at her confidence. She walked to the edge of the rooftop in which she stood, peering over the side before slipping over onto the fire escape silently.

Pressing herself against the cold bricks of the building, she sidestepped over to the large window that looked into his lavish apartment. Her eyes glanced around briefly, taking in the situation before she pulled her head back.

It was deserted and dark. Only a small table lamp was dimly lit by the entrance of the space. The television was off; the couch looked cold and lonely. She had been watching on top of the building for his car to pull around to the entrance to the under ground garage, but had not seen him appear. Another quick glance at the face of her phone.

The numbers changed; one minute to go.

There was a possibility that he had been wandering around on foot, as he often did while heading to the convenience store for a late snack of beer and chips. Of course, she had a better chance of successfully carrying out her hit if she were to be able to surprise attack him inside his home before he entered. She wiggled a window open and slid her lithe frame inside.

The air in the apartment was thick and muggy. It made her frown as she crouched down on the wooden floors, moving silently towards Mahler's bedroom. She paused by the open door and listened for any signs of breathing or movement.

A light was cast onto the floor from somewhere inside his room. The sound of a running shower trickled over her ears, and her heart jumped into her throat.

_Shit. He's been home this entire time? How could I have missed this?_

Yuffie reached behind her back, removing the impatient Conformer from its holster. She moved into the master bedroom, once surveying that it was empty through the crack in the door, and she followed the sound of the running shower.

She made not a single sound as she entered, her footing inaudible on the hardwood floor. Her muscles were moving so harmoniously with the gentle air current around. Each impulse her brain sent down to her nerves were being controlled so meticulously by her keen senses as she reached the connected bathroom inside the master bedroom. She crouched down once more, peering through the ajar door, watching as the shower curtain swayed slightly in the movement of the water.

Her hand reached out and pushed the door open. Her lip curled back in between her teeth in a nervous hope that the hinges weren't as squeaky as they appeared.

In one fluid, thoughtless motion, the Conformer left Yuffie's hand.

The hinges on the door didn't have time to react in the squeak that would have came from them, for the whirling whistle of the shuriken cutting through the air muted out any noise around. It was sharp; it was chilling.

The shower curtain collapsed to the ground in a heap of fabric as the Conformer embedded itself into the wall, sending a crack through the tiled surface.

"Shit!" Yuffie stared into the running shower.

The patter of the water hitting the porcelain tub below drowned out the subtle beep of a very extravagant looking bomb taped to the tile on the wall.

The numbers on Yuffie's phone changed over to ten.

~*~*~

The sound of a squeaky fan being moved by the wind outside pierced through the air, digging into the taut nerves of the men who moved through the darkness.

They had come across several more rooms, most of which were just electronic rooms full to the brim with computer panels and terminals that controlled individual siphoning chambers that were embedded into the earth. These rooms held little air in them as they were so full of electronic crap, which didn't leave much room to hide a grown man in, however.

"So...she give ya anythin'?" Reno poked his head inside the room and immediately regretted having done so as several years of neglect and the catastrophe of Meteor Fall filled his nose in the form of a plume of dust.

"What?"

Reno rubbed the back of his neck after quickly closing the door. His mouth twitched to the side of his face momentarily in thought, avoiding Cloud's inquisitive and yet irked look on his face. "Eh, never mind, yo."

Cloud lifted an eyebrow in the dark at the Turk.

"Maybe it ain't my place to tell ya," Reno said.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

Reno went to walk past the blond, but was stopped quite easily as the angle of Cloud's sword resting against his back claimed any possible space Reno could have used to dart around him. Cloud didn't have to inquire any further with words, as the vibe he was emitting to the Turk was enough to persuade him to talk.

"Boss had sumthin' for him."

He could hear Cloud swallowing, so Reno continued.

"I dug it outta Boss' desk and gave it ta yer woman." Reno paused, and was surprised that Cloud didn't correct him when he referred to Tifa as 'his woman'. "Didn't seem right for one of us ta give it ta him."

"...What is it?" Cloud's voice finally came out nervously.

The redhead turned away and Cloud could almost make out a saddened expression on the Turk's face, but he wasn't entirely sure. He waited for him to continue, his heart beginning to thump in his chest with anticipation and anxiety.

"Just," he hesitated, as he for once carefully worded his thoughts in his head, "...some memories, yo."

"Memories?"

Reno nodded, the dull light reflecting off the goggles resting against his forehead. "Eighty-eight memories of that flower girl, yo."

Cloud opened his mouth to speak then, but stopped when he heard the vibration of Reno's phone.

He answered swiftly. "Hey partner, ya guys as bored as we..." He trailed off, and then quickly snapped his phone closed. "Party's downstairs, yo."

Cloud nodded, and before Reno could say anything, the blond was already jumping the scaffolding down to the one below. After a few silent moments, he could hear the walkway letting out a metallic cry as Cloud landed on it as lightly as a grown man wielding an impressive sword could, and after falling a rather startling distance.

Reno followed but on a ladder that was nearby. He finally found Cloud in the dark after several moments, who was waiting impatiently for the lazy Turk. "There's ladders, ya know!"

This was ignored by the fidgeting man. "Have they confirmed it's Hait?" Cloud said as the two began to move swiftly towards the heart of the reactor, their footsteps rattling through the scaffolding.

"Nuh-uh," Reno said. "Just some noises comin' from the core."

The two slowed their pace, coming up to the darkened forms of Rude and Cid standing by the metal door to the core of the reactor.

"Shit," Cid whispered, smoothing a hand over his mouth, "I need a goddamned cigarette. Can't smoke with this jackass Hait lurkin' 'round."

"We were in the adjacent room," Rude began, ignoring his new partner's foul attitude as Cid continued to mutter to himself about his lack of nicotine, "when we heard what sounded like a glass tube shattering."

"I'm going in," Cloud said as his hand reached for the handle on the door.

"Ya suicidal? Why don'tcha just lure the guy out? Who knows what crazy crap he's got in there, yo!"

Cloud's hand twitched at the door handle as Reno spoke this. His mind went to the SOLDIER of his past. Thinking of the man didn't last very long, however, as his muscles just moved on their own. He threw open the door with a metallic groan and stepped inside the reactor's core.

~*~*~

Vincent had been refraining from collapsing to one of his knees, which his body so desperately argued with him about. It urged him, taunting him with the concept of the release his muscles would feel if he were to just let himself rest.

Of course, doing this would inevitably allow the mysterious man, who was relentlessly attacking him with unfathomable strength, to over-power the ex Turk. Each strike of that massive sword sent a metallic clanging through the air. As the sword swung, it flashed sharp beams of light from the moon above, allowing for Vincent's eyes to follow along in the frenzied movements.

They were erratic, yet horrifyingly strong.

Vincent soared up to the remains of a parking garage from the upper plate of one of the old sectors. He had been desperately trying to hold the man back from making his way towards the direction of Midgar. Strike after strike, fighting this man was quickly depleting Vincent of his energy. His muscles were screaming at him in his legs, and in his shoulders as the recoil of his weapon when fired. It was something that he was accustomed to, but tonight each fire of the trigger dug deeper into his stamina.

The man landed with a small grunt on top of the other side of the parking garage. He let out a quick cry before he lunged forward through the cold air, dragging his sword along the cement as he moved. A trail of pluming dust flew up into the air as the cement was released from its prison. It plummeted into the lower levels of itself.

Vincent fired two rounds in such quick succession that it blended into the sound of a single gunshot. He watched with guarded eyes as the man just simply brought his sword up and knocked the two bullets away as if they were flies buzzing about.

The sharp ping of the bullets hitting the steel blade reached Vincent's ears through the crumbling of the structure they stood on. He watched as the bullets were launched to the skies in an entirely different trajectory than what was originally intended by the gunman. He cursed to himself as the dust from the old building loomed about the area, shielding the man suddenly.

Amber eyes darted about wildly through the muddled scene before him.

_Where did he go?_

Through the dissipating echo of the rumbling, he could make out faint footsteps.

_Below! _Vincent scolded himself in his head as he leaped into the air, the sound of his cape flapping as he moved. Two shots were fired into the cement below him as it suddenly burst from the girders they were encased around, and the grim expression of the man broke free from the lingering dust that billowed in the air.

Vincent shifted in the air as the man swung his sword at him. He could feel the wind from the force blow past him. He landed on a balcony of the remnant of an apartment building as he quickly reloaded his gun with programmed ease. Jumping up several balconies above, he was able to put some distance between him and the man, as he could see him glancing up wildly, following the blurring movements of red fabric.

He leaned over, aiming the barrel of the gun down at the man who was now soaring up towards him. The gun trailed the man with a hesitant quiver. Vincent's finger squeezed the trigger as he neared, and the bullet left the barrel of the gun and grazed through the flesh of the man's arm as he jumped up from the lower balcony.

The man uttered no cry of pain, or shock as the blood from the wound exited his skin and fluttered out into the air around. However, the ex-Turk allowed no time for the man to react as another bullet was fired at the man's hand holding that massive sword.

The bullet hit the hilt of the sword and sent a violent tremor through the man's fingers, causing the weight of the sword to fumble in his grip, and fall towards the ground below. The man recoiled with a surprisingly animated wince, despite his prior lack of emotions, which suggested that perhaps his inner soul was fighting with the foreign entity taking residence in his psyche.

Vincent watched as the man dropped down below, out of his view. He went to lean over the railing of the decaying balcony, but was stopped by a thunderous explosion striking through the air from the direction of the city. His head shot up to see the sight of the tallest building in Edge being wrapped in flames at the top. Orange and yellow filled the surrounding skies, staining the black night.

_Yuffie! _Vincent's hand squeezed the butt of his gun tightly, enough to cause the knuckles in his hand to turn white and cold. _What the hell happened?_

The sound of clothes rustling below snapped the ex-Turk back to where his distracted mind should have been. He immediately raised his gun up, the muscles in his arm rigid and angry with him and his wandering movements.

The man had jumped up from below and he landed on the iron railing in an effortless squat. Vincent had little time to react as the man outstretched his arm, his palm swarming an amorphous blur of fire.

All Vincent was able to see through the fire wrapping around his body was the psychotic sneer across the face of the man before him.

~*~*~

There was a droning noise emanating around him as cautious legs carried him into the core of the reactor. Beside him were the once inanimate pieces of machinery that now teemed with a newfound life.

Computer terminals blinked lazily, as if recovering from a deep and elaborate slumber. Old fluorescent bulbs buzzed above with displeasure as the vapors inside them were excited from the electricity that once again flowed through. The smell of fresh mako was hovering around, acrid; pungent. It seeped through the space, filling each dusty corner of the core with its unmistakable stench.

Cloud walked through slowly, almost casually as his trained eyes glanced around for any sign of movement in the flickering light from above. His ears picked out the faint breath of a man as he cursed, and then the sound of a glass tube being tapped with a fingernail. He glanced back at the other men who followed behind, guarded. They looked to the blond, their eyes reflecting a look of wonder at Cloud's seemingly calm demeanor.

Although, that was when he was scared the most.

The owner of that cursing breath was before him now as Cloud stepped around a siphon motor.

"I suppose there is no logical sense in an attempt to conceal your presence," Hait said, turning as he removed the cap on a needle of green substance. "You knew that I was aware you were here, before you even entered, correct?"

Cloud stayed silent, watching as the man plunged the needle slightly, allowing for the remainder of the air bubbles in the tube to be released from the tip.

"You have mako eyes. Were you SOLDIER?"

Cloud replied with silence.

"I'm assuming you and the others are Rufus' little rag team, correct? I thought he'd send an entire militia after me." Arrogant shoulders shrugged beneath a white lab coat. "No matter. You will be disposed of shortly."

"Where is he?" Cloud finally said, his voice low.

"And who might you be referring to?"

Cloud fell silent once more. He couldn't speak his name.

"Perhaps you mean 'Z'?" The needle was jabbed into the crook of his own arm. Hait's eyes squeezed shut momentarily as the liquid crawled into his veins.

Watching the sight made Cloud's own arm twitch in rebuttal. His eyes darted away, distant memories being conjured up in his jumbled brain.

This, the man noticed. "You must be the one he is connected to."

"The hell ya talkin' 'bout, old man?" Cid stepped beside Cloud, finally lighting up that cigarette he had been craving since they had entered the reactor.

A short grunt came from Hait as he removed the needle. "My little puppet has been distracted lately, with a puppet of his own."

Cloud winced, a sharp screech tearing through his mind.

_Shit, not now._

Cid blew cigarette smoke into Cloud's face. "Stay with us, kid." This caused Cloud to shake his head from the toxic intrusion.

"It seems as if he has been trying to find you, Cloud."

Cloud's eyes were wild then, flicking to the older man who stood before them. "How did you--"

Hait cut him off. "You are the reason why I'm having such a hard time controlling my puppet."

"Stop calling him a puppet." Cloud's voice was beginning to rise.

"I have nothing else to refer to him with."

Reno and Rude shifted behind, the sounds of their nightsticks sliding into position, and locking with a click.

"He muttered of you often, as I experimented on him. It became rather cumbersome, actually. The insipid muttering made concentrating quite difficult."

Cloud's grip on the hilt of his sword began to tighten immensely. His knuckles began to wash of their color.

"All life forms who carry Jenova within them are connected by her will. Her voice resonates within you."

"Great, he sounds just like those crazy Remnants, yo," Reno said behind.

"No," Cloud said. "I'm not like that."

"He has contacted you, yes?" Hait said.

Cloud's head lowered, the high-pitched noise steadily growing from within his subconscious.

Hait watched as the fingers around Cloud's sword began to loosen. "I've read the Nibelheim reports. It seems that he risked his life to save you. A rather meaningless effort on his part. Stupid, really."

"Shut...the hell up." Cloud's voice came out ragged. His eyes were having a hard time focusing, and they darted about as if trying to grab hold of something, anything they could fixate on.

"And even after death he proves to have some sort of duty to continue protecting you. Although I've been able to intervene on several occasions, he's managed to come into contact with some of your subordinates despite my efforts."

Cid scoffed. "Yeah, it was a freakin' blast."

"It was quite interesting fighting for control with Z over you the last time, Cloud. He just didn't want to let you go. Although, I really can't say how you would be of any assistance to him now. He's degrading, rapidly."

A small line of blood ran from Cloud's nose, and trickled onto his lips. His arm holding his sword began to rise.

"That's it, very good." Hait glanced down to his watch. "I suppose it's about time."

"The hell are ya doin'!?" Cid slipped his Venus Gospel off from around his shoulder and aimed the tip at the man.

"Just...a little experiment, is all," Hait said, watching as Cloud's head began to bob mindlessly against his neck.

"Shit, kid!" Cid glanced over to Cloud, whose blood was dripping onto the metal platform below his feet. "'Ey! Tweedle Dee, Tweedle Dum!" Cid looked over his shoulder at the two Turks who just turned their heads at him quizzically. "Can ya handle this guy?"

"What the hell is a 'Tweedle Dee?'" Reno said, looking over to Rude for answers. He only stood there with a slightly amused face, awaiting for Cid to continue.

"Never mind that, dumbass! Get' goin'! I'll take care o' Cloud, 'ere!"

"Right, yo!" Reno scrambled forward, raising his nightstick across his left shoulder. He lunged at Hait, bringing his weapon down across him.

There was a bright flash of light, and Reno's weapon slipped into two separate pieces. One half fell onto the floor, the other, still clutched in his wavering hand.

"The...hell?" Reno blinked his blue eyes, as he watched his weapon fall. His eyes traced it as it rolled forward, into the boots of the blond who stood before him.

Cloud's eyes were lost.

~*~*~

Several heavy moments passed as Rufus tried to control the muscles in his face, and tried to suppress the needy urge to pull the trigger on his shotgun. He could sense Tseng and Elena behind him standing alert; stiff. They awaited any slight and diminutive signal from their President to attack.

"Have you seen the stocks this past week?" The figure spoke, after taking a sip from a glass of wine he was awkwardly drinking from, sitting atop a piece of machinery. He looked rather out of place, although Rufus was too perturbed at the man to find this amusing.

"Yes, they're down about ten percent," was Rufus' casual reply, repressing the venom from his voice.

A gun was cocked behind him.

"It's a shame, really. After all the years I've spent loyal to Shin-Ra." The figure slid off of the piece of equipment he was seated upon, and the sound of his expensive wingtip shoes clicked on the metal platform gracefully when he landed. "I hold a good portion of the company stock, as you know."

"I should hope so, considering you _are_ the Vice-President."

"The Advisory Board has concluded that there needs to be a change within Shin-Ra, to help rebuild it back to its once proud stature."

"Oh? The Presidential Advisory Board is holding meetings without its President, now?"

Ravel Mahler scoffed a laugh as he took a step towards Rufus. "You forget that I am the head of the Board. We don't need you to conduct affairs."

"Yes, it seems you hold your own quite well without me."

Elena shuffled behind, widening her aiming stance.

"It seems that you have no interest in rebuilding Shin-Ra in the way that would benefit the rest of the company executives."

"I have no interest in benefiting anyone but myself. Surely you of all people can understand this." Rufus' face twitched into a rather pompous grin.

Mahler just grinned back as he tugged on the silk tie around his neck. Rufus took this as a sign that he was becoming anxious, or perhaps he had drank too much wine.

"Exactly. Which is why I launched Project Z."

"Awaiting orders, sir," Tseng whispered behind, but Rufus just threw his hand out to his side to halt any action from the two.

"What are your intentions?" Rufus said.

"To kill you, obviously."

"Why are you here?"

"To kill you, obviously!"

Tseng spoke from behind. "How did you know we were going to be here?"

Mahler laughed, sliding his hand through the slicked brown hair on his head. A few pieces fell back into his eyes as they sparkled with a twisted sense of arrogance. "That little girl you had following me was quite good, actually. She hardly left any evidence that she had been watching me for a week. But of course, being followed was my intention the entire time. Admittedly, I was expecting a Turk to be following me, but someone from the WRO was a nice change from the usual suits I see running around under your command."

Rufus was repressing the growl that was digging at his vocal chords. He was going to give the man one more minute before he started to unload a few rounds into him.

"I would commend the girl of her skills, myself, if she wasn't dead, now."

"What have you done?" Elena said, her voice curt. She ignored the glance Tseng gave her.

Mahler looked down at the expensive watch he wore on his wrist. "Just a little parting gift for my secret admirer. She should have received it by now."

"I've had enough," Rufus said as he was about to give his Turks the signal to open fire.

Another short laugh from the man as he pushed his cuff back down over his wrist. "No, my dear President, I've had enough. I've put in more years with this company than you've been alive. Your father should have chosen me to be his successor, after you attempted to kill him."

"Blood is thicker than water, _Mahler_."

"Well, I suppose we'll see how thick your blood is then, _Shinra_."

The sound of the polymer frames of the 9mms rattled as they were clutched tightly, aimed at Ravel Mahler.

The bottle of wine Mahler was enjoying was tossed into the air, as the first shot was fired from Tseng. The combustion inside the chamber sent a reverberating chill through the entire reactor as the bullet exited the short barrel and collided with the glass bottle.

It exploded into glimmering pieces of distraction, the beads of the liquid fluttering amongst the shattered glass in the air.

Mahler dove behind a large terminal; the sound of Tseng unloading several more rounds at him was heard as it hit the metal of the equipment.

Tseng motioned for Elena to stand guard over Rufus, who looked as if he didn't need any protection, however, as a grin was etching away at the corners of his mouth. It truly had been a while for him, but until he ordered Tseng to back down, he was going to spearhead this attack for him.

"Mahler, come quietly," Tseng said, his voice echoing in the silencing area. "We will ensure your safety if you comply."

"Are you sure it's my safety you should be worried about?" was the reply, his voice muffled from behind the large terminal. The sound of a revolver chamber spinning could be heard, and then snapping closed.

"You're outnumbered." Tseng's eyes went up to a pipe that was leading from a siphoning pump, which most likely was used for extracting the vapors emitted from the processing of the mako. He hoped that it was still pressurized. It was worth a shot.

And a shot was what Tseng took, aiming up at the pipe and firing a single bullet into it. Nothing but a rather disappointing hiss came from it after the bullet entered with a ping. Tseng bristled as Rufus let out a small, mocking laugh behind him.

"And what was that?"  
"That...was supposed to be a distraction," Tseng muttered.

Rufus' hand slipped into the inside of his suit pocket, pulling out something in his palm. "Distraction? I can take care of that." The object was brought to his mouth as his teeth plucked out something thin. He casually chucked the object over the large terminal and it hit the platform with a metallic thud.

"Wait...w-was that...?" Elena glanced over to Rufus who was beginning to back out of the reactor's core.

"I suggest you both move back."

They exited the core, crouching low as the seconds passed by before the explosion wracked the entire core of the reactor. It sent a rumbling shudder through their bodies as they shielded themselves from the dust and debris that surged out from the doorway.

A secondary explosion was heard from above, then.

"And what was that!?" Elena now said, coughing into the crook of her elbow through the airborne dust.

Tseng's dark eyes narrowed, his vision frantically trying to adjust through the movement of the debris particles in the air. He could hear something land on the metal platform inside the core.

"Elena," Tseng said, his voice threatening to crack as a figure began to walk towards him. The dull glow of the floodlights reflected the thirsty edge on that familiar blade. "Get Rufus out of here."

"But--"

"Now!"

Tseng could hear his own heartbeat begin to resonate within him. Each muscle in his body tightened, and each nerve within those muscles were screaming. He fought back the urge to allow his eyebrows to meet on his emotionless face. But he lost that battle, as the man exited the core of the reactor and stopped before him.

"Oh...my gods," Elena whispered.

Tseng's fist curled into itself as he swallowed hard.

The man just stared at him, his face void of any sort of expression or sign of recognition of his former colleague; his former friend.

"What the hell have they done to you?"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

...To be continued in Chapter Twelve: Puppet

Ending Author's Note: Weeeellll, I hope that this chapter was worth the two week wait, yes? ^_^ The shit is starting to hit the fan (not quite the same shit as in my _other _story, but still shit, nonetheless.) as you can see.

And of course, the oh-so-wonderful Nekotsuki beta-ed this chapter for me. I am forever thankful to her. She hacks it up quite nicely, I must say. Much love to her, and all the readers! *hands Rufus another grenade* Here, have some fun.

So, things are...a bit strange over here on my end _still_. I just found out _today_ that I need spinal surgery. Hurray? *frown* So...that means no work (which is a plus) and that leaves me more time to write (until the surgery of course) so hopefully I'll get out several chapters quickly. But that also depends on how drugged up I'm going to be in the next few weeks due to immense pain and a left leg that's slowly ceasing to work. *laughs* I tried writing a few nights ago but ended up falling asleep with my head on the desk. *grins* So funny. XD I wonder if hospitals have Wifi? -yeah right...plus I'd need a laptop- So I'm shooting for the next chapter (which I haven't even started) to be out on October 16th...but I have no idea when my surgery is going to be, or how long I'll be in the hospital. Could be a day or two, so hopefully that won't land on the days I release either of my stories...*gasp* So...yeah. If it's not released on that day, please forgive me. I have a bad feeling that things won't go so smoothly for me pretty soon here. (If I die on the operating table, let it be known to the world that I want my tombstone to read: "Can someone throw me a Phoenix Down?" No joke. It better read that or I'll come back and haunt my family. *grin*) Aw I'm just kidding. I won't die. Hait will just bring me back as Project Z².

Zombie Ziggy. Effin' sweet, yo.


End file.
